Business

This new 'vertical bike' allows people to scale buildings

The Vycle is an innovative way of travelling vertically Image: REUTERS/Michael Dalder

Lee Bell
Share:
Our Impact
What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Business?
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Innovation is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Innovation

In our increasingly vertical and densely populated cities, space saving is vital; there's not always room to install full-size elevator shafts in apartment blocks where space is at a premium. Enter Vycle, a concept developed by design graduate Elena Larribathat boasts the bonus of health benefits.

Spotted by Dezeen at the London Royal College of Art graduate exhibition, this new typology bridges the gap between the stairs and the lift and thus is a healthier way for people to ascend and descend buildings as it allows them to navigate vertically using their bodies.

Taking inspiration from a bicycle, the patent-pending pedal-powered, vertical transportation system is attached to a vertical rail that can be fitted to the side of almost any building and is simply powered by continuous cyclical movement. The system works through a balancing act of counterweights, leaving the user's body as the only weight to overcome. Using a gearing system similar to how bikes work, the user can decide how much effort they want to put into reaching another level.

However, Vycle is not only about property efficiency and space saving. It also looks to improve the long-term well-being of people in communities, catering to those of varied ages and abilities while also "reintroducing the sense of flow and community that currently is exclusive on the urban ground plane," added Larriba.

Loading...

She also suggested that Vycle could be used during the construction of tall buildings due to its light weight, flexibility and low square-footage, making it suitable for retrofitting and temporary installations like in the use of scaffolding or cranes.

Loading...
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
BusinessUrban Transformation
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

SDIM24: How businesses can become more resilient to the physical impacts of climate change

Swenja Surminski and Nicholas Faull

October 2, 2024

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum