TOUR DE SPAIN
Parallels Between Architecture & Bike Touring
Cycling as a Vessel for Storytelling
Cycling as a Vessel for Storytelling
Cycling encourages us to push our profession further, strongly develop cognitive maps, and comprehend the context of a site. I am interested in cycling around Spain to bring awareness of the parallels between architecture and bike touring. Cycling was introduced to me by my father at a young age and has been an integral part of my life. During my undergraduate studies, I studied abroad in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Tokyo, and Mexico City. Visiting these diverse cities showed me how proper bike infrastructure contributes to changes in a healthier built environment. I moved to Seattle for graduate school in 2016. During my studies, I proactively familiarized myself with the city, neighborhoods, architecture, and culture through cycling. In 2019 I successfully rode the 70-mile loop of the greater Seattle area, where I rode through the eclectic neighborhoods that make up the city. This ride encouraged me to seek out my first bike tour which consisted of 400 miles from Salem, Oregon down the Pacific Coast Highway, ending at the Redwoods in California. Since then, I have completed other tours throughout Washington, rode 400 miles from Anchorage to Fairbanks, Alaska, and rode 300 miles around Maui, Hawaii. During these tours, I was immersed in different cultures, tried local foods, and rode through picturesque landscapes. However, the other side of this experience is seeing the stark disparities between communities, lack of infrastructure, food deserts, displacement of indigenous people, and greed in the privatization of public land. These are topics we address in our profession.
As architects and designers, we should constantly ask questions, push design boundaries, and continue to have a curiosity to learn. Bike touring follows this similar approach that allows me to design efficiently, creatively, and contextually. Touring Spain is an opportunity for in-depth research and providing similarities between these two practices. This includes the design process, interviews with architects and designers who bike tour (surprisingly there are a lot of us), accessibility to architectural landmarks, and storytelling of the experience through graphics. By cultivating my insight through this visceral experience, I intend to captivate and encourage others on the possibilities of bike touring, provide comfort in the outdoors, and connect the cycling and architectural community further. Traveling by bike conveys many unknowns, but the uncertainty in new terrain, nature, and different cultures results in discovering new places, meeting new people, and learning new vernacular designs.
As architects and designers, we should constantly ask questions, push design boundaries, and continue to have a curiosity to learn. Bike touring follows this similar approach that allows me to design efficiently, creatively, and contextually. Touring Spain is an opportunity for in-depth research and providing similarities between these two practices. This includes the design process, interviews with architects and designers who bike tour (surprisingly there are a lot of us), accessibility to architectural landmarks, and storytelling of the experience through graphics. By cultivating my insight through this visceral experience, I intend to captivate and encourage others on the possibilities of bike touring, provide comfort in the outdoors, and connect the cycling and architectural community further. Traveling by bike conveys many unknowns, but the uncertainty in new terrain, nature, and different cultures results in discovering new places, meeting new people, and learning new vernacular designs.
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