It uses the bones of a Polish-made Vectrix scooter, is powered by 102 lithium-ion battery cells, and is moved by a planetary gearbox. His first build, Hope, is an all-electric bike that required four years of work. Shiny Hammer’s Plee chair, for example, bends aluminum in such a way that creases and wrinkles form, making the metal look like bunched-up fabric where seat meets backrest.
"The two words - Shiny and Hammer - are like a bittersweet feeling: Hammer being the rough cut, and Shiny being the subtleties.” His furnishings are all handmade, each distinct and unconventional, with a tasteful steampunk flair. “It’s a place where I can throw around some of my thoughts that have been generated by passion and frustration," he says. In 2010 Sam opened Shiny Hammer, a creative workshop and design firm in Fayet, France, two hours north of Paris. But after only five years in automotive design, Sam felt stifled dispassion crept in, and he quit the industry to focus instead on furniture design. He starting modifying as a teenager, uncorking his MBK Rocket and other scooters under the name “Heavymotor.” At age 24, Sam received a degree in automotive design from Institut Supérieur de Design in Valenciennes. The 33-year-old Frenchman has loved motorcycles since his sixth birthday when his parents gifted him a 50cc Yamaha PW.
Builder and industrial designer Samuel Aguiar will someday be forgotten, but his immaculate 1972 Harley-Davidson FLH won’t soon fade from memory. Beauty is forever fleeting all anyone can do is create a fearless design that functions as intended and elicits a positive emotional response that outlives its designer. Chasing timelessness is a fool’s errand because times and tastes change.