hehe envisions urban railroad surfing vehicles of the future

hehe envisions urban railroad surfing vehicles of the future
all images courtesy of hehe

french urban design studio hehe have envisioned a series of artistic interventions within paris, recontextualizing mobility as urban railroad surfing vehicles of the future. ‘the train project’ is an ongoing body of speculative investigation into the language and aesthetics of transport culture. the artists propose personal rail travel as a temporary, imaginary solution to question our industrialized conscience in relationship to locomotion.

‘metronome is a prototype of hehe’s ‘train project’ seen as an artistic research into the development of temporary, autonomous vehicles on railway tracks. offering personal transportation, which revisits the poetry movement within a metropolis, the design makes the antithesis of the rail industry — it is light, emphemeral and slow.’metronome’ provides a picturesque journey, alone in pairs on the abandoned paths of ‘la petite ceinture’. the vehicle is electric and charges with solar panels, unfolding to the public thanks to its platform and mobile and portable signal system. 

‘metronome is a prototype of hehe’s ‘train project’

a public audience interacts with the mobile transportation units

the ‘m-blem’ recreates a personal transport experience on the historic track, inviting audience members to journey through space and time to experience the past and future of local transportation networks. 

prototype for ‘m-blem’ vehicle

‘m-blem’ takes to the abandoned rail lines

‘radeau de sauvetage’ (life raft)

the pieces that make up ‘radeau de sauvetage’