For his final project in the University of Montréal’s design department, product designer Christophe Robillard asked, “If the bicycle is the standard bearer for sustainable transportation, shouldn’t the object itself communicate the same message?”
The Victor Bike is his answer to his own question.
By re-conceiving the shape of the frame, reducing the amount of metal used and carefully selecting greener materials and manufacturing processes, Robillard has set a new standard for eco-friendly bicycle design. But it’s about so much more than that, according to Robillard, himself:
Reducing the material weight, optimising the manufacturing process, using recyclable and recycled materials, simplifying the disassembling and the separation of materials at the end of life are technical points which have to be respected during the development of a sustainable product. I believe in Mr. Jonathan Chapman’s philosophy — EMOTIONALLY DURABLE DESIGN — where the object presenting the best environmental qualities are the ones that we love, to whom we become attached and the ones we preserve.
Victor is not only the result of a quantifiable analysis work following a protocol of green engineering, but an object that has an irreplaceable role to our everyday life.
I tried to show the elegance and the grace which a bicycle can have through everyday use. A companion to the everyday life that joins us in what I consider to be a respectable and admirable lifestyle. I created an object which harmonizes with the townscape while respecting the charisma and the dignity of the cyclist: such values I hold dearly.
Further reading:
Christophe Robillard’s blog
Flickr images of the Victor Bike
Co.Design coverage of the Victor Bike
