TT Monument
The racer and his motorbike merge together to become a new entity: man and machine work together to achieve a great performance. The body and the motorcycle become one indivisible whole, dynamically deformed by speed, emotion and sensation. The driver and his machine are fused in speed. Each part of the fusion is in transition to become the other. The wind reshapes the wheels, the human body fuses into the new man-machine body. The fused body performs a wheelie, celebrating the victory and pride like a conquering horse. The TT Monument is the ultimate horse: strong and fast, supple and smooth, proud and stubborn. The strong and yet smooth surface of the body evoke the fusion of sensuality and power. The body of the TT Monument makes a proud horsepower, the challenging upward lift of the front wheel when catapulting the bike away from the banked curves of the TT Circuit.
The design started with a fast intuitive 3d sketch in the computer. From this 3d sketch a 1:20 scale solid foam model was milled. A 3D digitizer was used to bring back the physical model into the digital design environment. The further intuitive design process involved a sculpt surface sculpting tool pushing and pulling the surfaces, tweaking the curves. Sculpting surfaces feels like digital clay. Natural aluminium is chosen for the robust exterior skin.
Design team: Ilona Lénárd, Kas Oosterhuis, Rui Dias, Chris Kievid, Omar Resendiz | winning competition design commissioned by the TT Monument Foundation, Assen | 2002