Recycled Tricycle-Powered Beetle Shaped Children's Library That Expands Its Wings to Reveal Books Inside

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Concerned about the pollution from abandoned bike-share bicycles and other industrial waste, Chinese artists Luo Yujie and Lu Zhuojian of Luo Studio created “Shared Lady Beetle”, a wonderful tricycle-powered micro library that’s shaped like a beetle with sturdy wings that expand the bookshelves within. The idea was inspired by a friend who teaches young children.

I have a friend who is specialized in maker education for children. He made some teaching props by himself, which often need to be moved in and out from his office. He usually tiled those teaching materials to a grocery cart and wheeled it around the school to explain them to the children and parents. Having seen this, I wanted to create a small and ingenious storage cart to support his maker education for kids.

The bicycle was first turned into a tricycle that could handle a heavy load. The artists then used recycled metal to shape the beetle’s wings, ensuring that they could withstand the with of heavy books and that of a small child or two.

The shared bicycle was transformed into a tricycle with large loading capacity, in order to display more items. To protect the items and avoid moving them repeatedly, we designed a special cover on the shelf, which drew inspirations from lady beetles, a type of beneficial insect that kids are familiar with. The way that lady beetles open and close wings was applied to the cover, appealing and creative. …from top to bottom, the layers gradually become larger in size, with the lowest one enabling kids to sit and lean on.