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A bicycle built for more Structures made from wheels and old parts pop upKatherine Hudson Northern News Services Published Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012
Metal circles mesh together overhead in the Old Town Glassworks backyard, forming a dome made up of about 200 bicycle wheels of varying sizes. The dome is covered in tarps for shelter, exuding an igloo-like atmosphere. Matthew Grogono, president of the co-operative which runs the recycled glass studio, had many spare wheels lying around in the backyard since he's been collecting old bicycles for the past three or four years. More than 10 years ago at Caribou Carnival, he was part of the organizational committee which brought up five geodesic domes over two years from a company in Alberta to use as shelters. "I thought they were absolutely phenomenal," he said. The wheels, he said, are remarkably strong structures, with their weight spread throughout. They are attached together with plastic pull ties and are sturdy enough for someone to hang from them. Grogono said the project is experimental art, a temporary structure, but it's opening up a new avenue for the old bicycle parts to be used. The project took about three days to create at the end of last month. Michal Sobierajski helped Grogono with the construction of the dome, saying that although the structure looks intricate, the design was quite straight forward. "We used the lips of the rim to create that dome structure and managed the size of the wheel to create that curvature. It's really sturdy," he said. Bikes welcome people to garden Up town at Northland Trailer Park, the entrance to the community garden is a web of twisted colourful metal and silver rims. Carrie Young, chair of the Northland Community Garden Society, needed to find a way to create a gate that was about 4.8-metres wide for vehicle access. Enter Tyler Baydak, a proud owner of a self-made, triple-decker bicycle. Young put the project of welding bikes together to create the fence and Baydak "jumped at it." Baydak worked on the gate at the end of July and it took him about 24 hours worth of work in total. "At least 10 (hours) were collecting all the bikes and stripping them down to just their frames," said Baydak. The bikes came from around Frame Lake, were donated by members of the community or were salvaged from the dump, he said. "They had old rusty parts on them. Twelve hours were spent cutting, grinding and welding everything together and then another few hours to hang it and get it just right," he said. About 14 red, blue, green and pink bike frames make up the fence, along with a number of different-sized wheels. One bike – the only one still in one piece – sits on the ground and its wheels are used to swing the gate open and closed. Although Baydak doesn't live in the neighbourhood, he said if the gate is part of an initiative for the community to grow their own food, he "wholeheartedly supports" it. "People think its a nice addition to the whole garden here and a nice way to just reuse stuff that was destined for the landfill," he said. The property is owned by the city and leased by the Yellowknife Condominium Corporation No. 8, the condo board that governs Northland. The society, a non-profit organization, was developed last November and raised money throughout the winter for its community garden and playground – receiving funds from the City of Yellowknife, the Department of Industry, Tourism, and Investment, as well as businesses in the city, said Young. Prior to the land being used for the park, it was an old baseball diamond that wasn't used and, in the winters, it was used to stockpile snow collected from around the community, said Young. The park has just recently been completed and, next year, the society will be renting out planters for people to garden. The bicycle gate adds a fun, useful accessory to the Northland project. "It's another way to attract people to the site," said Young. "When people see funky art, they want to come and check it out."
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