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BMW Mobile Research Lab
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http://images.ctv.ca/gallery/photo/autos-BMW-mobile-lab-110811/image0.jpg
BMW Mobile Research Lab World Tour
There's a Guggenheim Museum in Venice, Bilbao, Abu Dhabi, Berlin and other cities but this is the famous original, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, situated on New York's 5th Avenue. BMW has teamed up with the Guggenheim to create a mobile research lab to travel around the world and explore urban and transportation issues.
Michael Vaughan for CTVNews.ca
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http://images.ctv.ca/gallery/photo/autos-BMW-mobile-lab-110811/image1.jpg
Here's the site they chose for the first one. It's a twenty foot wide empty lot between two buildings on New York's Lower East Side. This is hardly a prime location but when the lab moves on there will be a small park here instead of a fenced off pile of rubble.
Michael Vaughan for CTVNews.ca
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http://images.ctv.ca/gallery/photo/autos-BMW-mobile-lab-110811/image2.jpg
This is a six year long program that takes a mobile research lab to nine of the world's largest cities. The idea is to put city planners, architects, academics, entrepreneurs, dreamers and schemers, together with anyone who walks in off the street to work on fresh ideas for life in big cities. This BMW Guggenheim Lab will be in New York for two months then goes to Berlin and Mumbai. I've seen the New York agenda and it includes a really interesting program of lectures, debates, movies, tours, simulation games and whatever.
Michael Vaughan for CTVNews.ca
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http://images.ctv.ca/gallery/photo/autos-BMW-mobile-lab-110811/image3.jpg
BMW admits they didn't think much of the site when they first saw it but now they like the idea of creating a small park that will remain while they kick off their program. Thomas Girst, BMW's Head of Cultural Engagement explained, 'When it's in Berlin it's in a big square, when it's in Mumbai it's in a big park. Here it's 20 feet wide but 100 feet long and that's enough room for debate. Speakers Corner in Hyde Park is a lot smaller.'
Michael Vaughan for CTVNews.ca
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http://images.ctv.ca/gallery/photo/autos-BMW-mobile-lab-110811/image4.jpg
BMW is sponsoring this Lab and its programs and sending it all over the world. They are spending some serious money on what might be considered a peoples' think tank. I like the fact that BMW dipped into the marketing dough that would otherwise go to things like golf tournaments to fund some out-of-the-box thinking.
There will be a great big web site that keeps track of it all and I think there's a chance that some great ideas will emerge somewhere along the line.
Michael Vaughan for CTVNews.ca
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http://images.ctv.ca/gallery/photo/autos-BMW-mobile-lab-110811/image5.jpg
One thing BMW will not talk about is how much this six year long program will cost. 'That's not a number that we will communicate,' said Harald Kruger, Member of BMW Management Board. 'It's just part of the cost of being committed to sustainability.' It all looks like interesting fun to me. Check it out at www.bwmguggenheimlab.org.
Michael Vaughan for CTVNews.ca
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