half and half by siriporn kobnithikulwong from usa

Concept:
Half & Half is a design that represents a green urban life style regarding transportation choices in the 21st century. A concept of Half & Half was originated from an idea that, to sustain and enhance our urban life as well as natural environments, we should harmonize our activities with nature. Promoting daily green life does not mean that we have to go back to nature and oppose all our civilized life styles, but it means that we should well design, balance, and harmonize these two aspects. Thus, Half & Half was designed to reflect this harmonization not only through its physical appearance, but also through its function that influences people’s life style.

Function:
Half & Half is street furniture designed to encourage people to choose environmental-friendly transportation choices: bicycles and mass transit services, in stead of private cars that cause a ton of environmental problems. By providing a safe bike parking area with a waiting area for the mass transit service, Half & Half will perfectly serve people who might be distant from a station and would like to bike to the station. - Half way from home to work with a bicycle and the other half with a mass transit service-

Design:
Based on the concept to harmonize our activities with nature, Half & Half is a combination of human-made and natural constructions. There are two main functions: a waiting area for the mass transit service and bike parking area.

Beginning with the waiting area, which is the front of the station, this part reflects the man-made piece of this design. It was designed to look clean and modern in order to blend well with an urban environment. Stainless steel and tempered glass are main materials for the structure since they are durable and easy to maintain for a public area. Leaning panels are made of wood to soften the look. (No seating area is provided since the mass transit service in the future is expected to come very often, so there is no need for sitting!) In the middle of the roof, there is a solar cell stripe on top saving solar energy during the day and transforming the energy to be lighting for the station during the night.

The bike parking area reflects the nature piece of this design. It is very simple. There are spaces designed for growing bamboos that are used as bike racks. Why do we need to build a bike rack while we have such a wonderful environmental feature that can serve the same function? Besides being a bike rack, the bamboo also acts as a natural background and provides shade for the front area during the day. – The front half blends well with the modern city environment; the other half reminds us of the existence of nature -