Yeah, I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of vintage Form Magazine posts the next little while. You have been warned.
In 1967 at the Montreal World Expo, three students from the Folkwangschule für Gestaltung [Folkwang Design School] in Essen, Germany exhibited this concept study for a stroller that can go up and down stairs. They showed their work as part of an exhibit, "The Infant and His Environment," which was a nod to the Expo's overall theme, "The Man and His World."
Their stroller seems remarkably prescient, largely because the theme led them to take a user-centered approach to the design, looking at how and where parents actually go, and addressing the obstacles a modern stroller pusher faces. Like stairs.
And like cars. The caption on this photo says, "Unusual Solution: Pram body as safety measure in car." Car seats and travel systems are ubiquitous now, but the editors of Form will be interested to know their description has staying power, even 40 years on: when the remarkably similar-looking Orbit Baby system came out, people still thought it was unusual. [Actually, they thought it was a crock pot.]
Of course, the kid curled up in this Pram looks like he's about ten, so yeah, that is a little odd.
Form Archive, Issue 37: A Stair-Compatible Pram [form.de]
love these sixties pictures, especially since i love the expo67!!!
I'm amazed no one has invented a stroller that really does go up and down stairs smoothly.
As a new dad, it really annoying to have to pick the whole thing up and then stagger up a flight or 8 of stairs and back down again.
Im going to make something thats a real solution to strollers and stairs !
Brett.