At first glance, the bicycle above looks perfectly functional. However, take one pedal and you could be in for a nasty surprise, as the frame is missing a key component. Velocipedia began in 2009 when artist Gianluca Gimini started asking friends and strangers of all ages to draw a bicycle by heart onto a sheet of paper.
On Behance Gimini explains:
Soon I found out that when confronted with this odd request most people have a very hard time remembering exactly how a bike is made. Some did get close, some actually nailed it perfectly, but most ended up drawing something that was pretty far off from a regular bicycle. Little I knew this is actually a test that psychologists use to demonstrate how our brain sometimes tricks us into thinking we know something even though we don’t.
I collected hundreds of drawings, building up a collection that I think is very precious. There is an incredible diversity of new typologies emerging from these crowd-sourced and technically error-driven drawings. A single designer could not invent so many new bike designs in 100 lifetimes and this is why I look at this collection in such awe.
In the ongoing series Gianluca digitally renders the results, creating a fascinating collection of bicycle designs. You can see many more on his website and Behance profile.
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