Ciguë Brings Car-Free Dream to Cowboy's Electric Bike Store in Paris

Ciguë studio was commissioned by the electric bike brand Cowboy for the design of its new shop at the “Le Bon Marché” in Paris Rive Gauche. The interior space of the showroom combines natural materials and earthy tones with technology elements. Ciguë’s design “imagined a post-concrete city, organic and fluid, free from the angst-inducing presence of cars” as they state. An archetype of intuitive, high-performance post-carbon mobility, the electric bike brand Cowboy has asked ciguë to design its new shop on the ground floor of Le Bon Marché Paris Rive Gauche.

In this space traditionally dedicated to luxury brands, there is a new sense of freedom: at one with our machine, we connect with an urban landscape from which all obstacles are removed.

Excerpts from an interview with Alphonse Sarthout, founder of ciguë, and Tanguy Goretti, founder of Cowboy.

How do Cowboy’s high-tech mobility and ciguë’s low-tech approach intersect?

AS: We decided to highlight this contrast by placing the high-tech bike in a simple setting inspired by nature, with the most low-tech material of all, namely earth. But the design plays with technology too, with screens surrounding the bike. Our visions meet in our shared love of detail and precision. We identify with the superb finish of the Cowboy bike.

You’re keen on the idea of unhindered mobility. How can this idea be transcribed in a retail space?

AS: We were faced with a dilemma: Cowboy Bon Marché is the first Cowboy shop without direct access from the street. We had to reconnect the shop with the exterior. The videos of the sky conjure up the idea of movement and the passage of time. Similarly, suspending the bike in mid-air contributes to the idea of speed and effortlessness associated with electric bikes—the rider can sit up and observe what’s going on in the city.

TG: This isn’t just a bike built for speed, it’s also a tool that allows you to reconnect with the urban environment: it’s about experience as much as performance.