Presented at the bike festival of Gothenburg just about a week ago, the Cycling Center by We Are You + Erik Hallberg aims to promote cycling and bring together different cycling communities in the city. With Gothenburg being a city strongly dominated by cars, more than other large Swedish cities, this project has started to turn this around and make Gothenburg a ‘bike city’ with role models such as Amsterdam and the neighboring and great example Copenhagen. In this work of switching over from cars to bikes, their proposed cycling stadium would act as a catalyst. To become a ‘bike city’, the perception of the bike and the cyclist among city inhabitants is crucial. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The group called cyclists is a scattered bunch of people ranging from commuters to exercisers and committed athletes. They are also divided by the choice of bike. Commuters rarely hang out with the people getting dirty in the woods and BMX riders have probably never had the chance to ask why roadies shave their legs. This calls for a change and that’s where this proposal took its starting point. Cyclists need an arena just like any other sport: soccer, ice hockey etc. where the stadium acts as the natural meeting point, ambassador of the sport and its practitioners. We also believe that sports are closely connected to everyday behavior and life style.
