beCycle Firenze — Daniele Dominici

My design thesis, and my first job: a campaign to get Florence on its bikes, sponsored and then funded by the City of Florence.

Getting around by bike had been normal in northern Europe for decades. In Italy the mindset was missing, and in many ways it still is. For my final project at ISIA Firenze I proposed to the Municipality a campaign to encourage and help everyone who wanted to cycle in the city, and I presented it to the mayor. The City sponsored the thesis and then funded it, and launched beCycle to coincide with the World Cycling Championships, held in Florence that autumn. A school project went to the streets.

The bike as the smart choice

The campaign never asked for sacrifice. It treated the bike as the clever option, with a wink: “Il primo SUV”, the first sport utility vehicle, a city bike loaded with crates; “Ciclo amatori”, a play on cycle lovers; “Portala fuori stasera”, take her out tonight. The campaign shots are by the studio Fzero Photographers; I photographed the project and the event. One red, the City’s, tied every piece together.

Poster: a blue city bike carrying wooden crates against a brick wall, headline Il primo SUV — “Il primo SUV”: the first sport utility vehicle.

Poster: a bike with a bunch of red roses on a riverside street at night, headline Portala fuori stasera — “Portala fuori stasera”: take her out tonight.

Poster: a city bike with a basket and a red heart-shaped lock, headline Ciclo amatori — “Ciclo amatori”, cycle lovers.

Red poster: Stanco delle code? 54 km di piste ciclabili ti aspettano — “Tired of queues? 54 km of cycle paths are waiting for you.”

A map built on open data

The website, on the City’s own domain, was built on the Municipality’s open data: every cycle path in Florence, safe tours across the city, bike parking, drinking fountains and repair shops, all on one map.

The beCycle website home page in red — The home page.

The beCycle map of Florence with cycle paths, parking and fountains — Every path, parking spot, fountain and repair shop on one map.

A beCycle page with art routes drawn on the map of Florence — Tours along safe routes, here through the city’s art.

In the street, in your pocket, in an exhibition

Billboards and columns across the city carried the campaign. A pocket map folded in a short bike encyclopedia and a ten-rule code for the urban cyclist. Then an exhibition entirely dedicated to beCycle, whose graphics I designed with my colleague Marco Beni, set out the project and the City’s plans for its network.

A street column with the Portala fuori stasera poster at dusk, cars passing — “Portala fuori stasera” on a city column.

A Ciclo amatori billboard by a busy road in Florence — By the busy roads, where the traffic is.

A folded leaflet with a short bike encyclopedia and the ten rules of the urban cyclist — A short bike encyclopedia and a ten-rule code for the urban cyclist.

The beCycle pocket map, folded, with the cycle network of Florence — The pocket map.

The beCycle exhibition in a domed hall: vintage bicycles, red banners and panels — The beCycle exhibition: banners, panels and vintage bicycles.

A tall red banner reading Con la bici si può under a frescoed dome — “Con la bici si può”: you can, by bike.

A red beCycle wall panel explaining the project — The project, explained on site.

A red panel diagramming the City of Florence’s cycling plan: connected paths, maintenance, new lanes, intermodality, social projects — The City’s plan for the network, drawn as one line.

Outcome

beCycle ran in the streets of Florence as a City campaign during the World Championships, with its website on the Municipality’s domain and an exhibition of its own. It was my first job, and the same year I founded Mallet Studio.

The bike as the smart choice

A map built on open data

In the street, in your pocket, in an exhibition

Outcome

Let’s talk.