The Homo Mobilitas bicycle is the perfect solution for the Homo Erectus(s) who likes to be comfortably seated while traversing the urban landscape.
Here, Takuto Ohta reimagines the Japanese Mamachari bicycle by conceptualizing it as a chair. For the body, Ohta chose the Furakazu Shushu model from Maruishi Cycle, a long-established Japanese bicycle manufacturer that developed the first child-carrying bicycle in Japan.
By treating the bicycle as a chair, Ohta encourages a reevaluation of our relationship with everyday objects. He points out that most human transportation involves sitting, making the act of sitting a fundamental aspect of modern life. This perspective invites us to see bicycles not just as modes of transportation but as integral parts of our living environment.
“A bicycle is a cool chair that runs, isn’t it?’ ‘If you think about it, all human transportation other than walking is done by sitting on a chair,” says Ohta.
Low-speed Mamachari bicycles are ideal for short rides around the city, particularly effective on roads in residential areas with little traffic, for places where there are no parking spaces, and are not far enough away to use a car. Their demand has also increased among many students and housewives, and they have become very cheap and durable, making them easy to obtain.
However, the Mamachari’s overall mass is quite large in order to accommodate a child of about 3ft, not to mention how difficult it can be to balance the weight of a child when starting from a stop.
“I decided to think about how to get at the outline of the problem that was vaguely visible from the moving mass with three chairs on it,” explains Ohta.
How practical would it be to pilot a bicycle with three chairs holding the weight of adults? Who knows. But, one thing is clear though, this creation will have eyeballs turning in Japan.
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