I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who thinks that the
porteur bikes in 1950s Paris are some of the most beautiful machines ever made by man. the French Art-Deco influence really shines through in these bikes; of particular beauty to me are the very deep yet gracefully blended valences on the mudguards, and the functional-yet-attractive structure of the chainrings.
To me, this:
is beautiful in a way that this:
Can never be. The modern aesthetic in so many things leaves me cold.
In a lot of ways, I think design, in general, peaked about 1955 and it's been a slow slide to mediocrity ever since.