The Pedalator

Prelude

The relentless demand for energy has led to the massive exploitation of our planet’s resources. Contemporary homes are filled with electrical and electronic devices, many of which remain constantly connected to the grid, often lingering in standby mode. Alarmingly, 80% of the population is unaware of the energy required to power even the simplest electronic domestic devices, such as a television, a radio, a light.

Concept

The Unplugged series is designed to provoke reflection on energy consumption. It envisions a speculative future where natural resources are no longer sufficient to meet society’s demands—a post-industrial scenario in which the architectural remnants of civilization serve as a backdrop for rediscovering alternative methods of energy production. In this context, self-generated energy emerges as the main viable approach, one that considers the planet’s cycles of resource replenishment. The Pedalator is the second prototype in the series, raising a fundamental question: how much physical effort is required to power a simple LED bulb?

Design

The Pedalator is a pedal-powered lighting device made of wood, unglazed ceramic, and aluminum, which generates an hour of illumination for every five minutes of cycling. It activates by pedaling: three minutes of physical work provides nearly half an hour of light. The produced energy is then stored in a battery, allowing users to switch the light on and off as needed. By challenging to reconsider our relationship with energy in a world of finite resources, the Pedalator emphasizes the value of sustainability not just as the material outcome of a process, but as an attitude, and design as an implementation of such attitude.