Trek Lime Bike Wins the 2009 People’s Design Award
The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum presented its fourth People’s Design Award to the Trek Lime bicycle Thursday, Oct. 22, at its 10th annual National Design Awards gala in New York. Tyler Florence, host of Food Network’s “Tyler’s Ultimate,” announced the winning design and presented the award to Hans Eckholm, senior industrial designer for Trek Bicycles.
After thousands of votes were cast during the course of one month on Cooper-Hewitt’s Web site, the Lime—a coasting bike designed for the casual rider interested in biking for recreation and convenience purposes—emerged as the public’s favorite design.
Aimed at the 65 percent of Americans who do not currently own or ride a bike, the Lime features a coasting drive system (a three-speed automatic shift with push-back brakes) combined with an upright riding position and virtually maintenance-free mechanics. The coasting system was developed based on research findings by innovation and design firm IDEO and components manufacturer Shimano. The Lime is manufactured by Trek Bicycle Corp. An ideal urban commuting bike, the Lime bike is available in three sizes and features a storage saddle.
“More people on the road with two tires, rather than four, is a big step toward a greener city and world. I’m delighted that the public has chosen to honor the Lime bike,” said Caroline Baumann, acting director of the museum. “Cooper-Hewitt is committed to sustainable and socially responsible design through its exhibition and education programs, and it recently partnered with New York’s Department of Transportation on the CityRacks competition to design a new sidewalk bicycle rack.”
Marianne Cusato, designer of the Katrina Cottage, was selected as the first People’s Design Award winner in 2006. Toms Shoes, a company that gives away a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold, received the award in 2007, and the Zo¯n Hearing Aid took home the award in 2008.
Headquartered in Waterloo, Wis., Trek Bicycle Corp. is a global leader in bicycle design and manufacturing. From the original hand-built, steel touring frames introduced in 1976 to the revolutionary OCLV Carbon introduced in 1992, Trek produces a broad range of bicycles and cycling products under the Trek, Gary Fisher and Bontrager brand names. Eckholm’s work primarily focuses on carbon-fiber road-racing bikes. Before joining Trek, he was a senior designer for Sony Ericsson, a designer for Ethicon Endo-Surgery and an associate professor at North Carolina State University.
The National Design Awards and National Design Week are made possible by the generous sponsorship of Target.
About the People’s Design Award
Launched Sept. 21, the People’s Design Award Web site received hundreds of nominations, thousands of votes and nearly 200,000 visitors. By logging on to www.cooperhewitt.org, users were able to browse and vote from the existing nominees or upload images to nominate a new object. Nominees included a range of transportation systems from the CMYK Elektric Bike to the Zip car, sustainable projects with a social mission such as the D.light Kiran solar lantern and Adspecs eye glasses, and design blogs like Re-nourish and Design Observer. For the second year, the museum also offered a People’s Design Award Facebook application, allowing Facebook users to share and discuss their favorite designs with friends, expand the audience for the award contest and broaden the conversation about good design.
The People’s Design Award is part of Cooper-Hewitt’s largest public education initiative, National Design Week. During this week, the museum is offering free admission for all visitors and hosting numerous free design programs. In recognition of the importance of design education, organizations and schools nationwide also will sponsor events during National Design Week. For a complete schedule of National Design Week events, please visit www.cooperhewitt.org.
About the National Design Awards
First launched at the White House as a project of the White House Millennium Council, the awards were established to broaden awareness of the role of design in daily life by honoring individuals in all areas of design, as well as its patrons and supporters. The National Design Awards are accompanied each year by a variety of public education programs, including lectures, roundtable discussions and workshops. For more information, please visit www.nationaldesignawards.org.
About Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is the only museum in the nation devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. The museum presents compelling perspectives on the impact of design on daily life through active educational programs, exhibitions and publications. Founded in 1897 by Amy, Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt—granddaughters of industrialist Peter Cooper—as part of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the museum has been a branch of the Smithsonian since 1967.
About Target
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation serves guests at 1,719 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.
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