The Human-Powered Floating Gym!
by Jorge Chapa
Have you ever pedaled on a stationary bike at the gym and thought to yourself: ‘What if this energy I am exerting could be used for something better than just making me sweat?” Well now a new proposal from architect Mitchell Joachim promises to take all that energy expended at the gym to the next level, by capturing all that exertion and using it to transport people around the rivers of New York City. The River Gym concept is a human-powered floating gym that will provide the user with the one experience that no other gym can provide: floating your workout around Manhattan. Designed by architect Mitchell Joachim and personal trainer Douglas Joachim, this project could bring inspiration to both the morning commute and workout.
There is a significant amount of energy expended when going to the gym. Nothing wrong with that of course, other than the fact that all of it is spent in one place and, other than getting people fit, the energy is wasted. While we know of one gym that is trying to do something with that energy, we’re impressed by River Gym’s creative take on using that human power to tackle some transportation needs.
The River Gyms are, in essence, floating gyms designed to provide health amenities while floating along the Hudson and East rivers. Each gym is programed with a specific path set on a 15 minute loop moving from one point to the next. This means that each one of these devices can function both as a gym with a view and as a transportation system.
The design won the third place in New York Magazine’s 2005 Create a Gym competition, and it is certainly easy to see the appeal of one of these. Obviously, while the design proposal was specific for New York, pretty much any city with access to a river could be filled with these gyms.
+ Human Powered Gym @ Archinode
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interesting concept. Seems to be like some other methods of recreation that also allow transportation. A bicycle comes to mind. So does a scull. So does running.
I think that harvesting energy is a great idea - to power the gym or other structure, but this seems like it was built just for a design competition to be novel - no real need.