Architects re-inventing shoes with 3D Printing
In collaboration with 3D Systems a select group of 5 of the worlds leading architects and designers are exploring and challenging 3D printing technology by designing 3D printed ladies high heels.
| Ben van Berkel (UNStudio) | Architect |
| Zaha Hadid | Architect |
| Ross Lovegrove | Product Designer |
| Fernando Romero | Architect |
| Michael Young | Product Designer |
Candidly dubbed ‘Re-Inventing Shoes project’ is about exploring and pushing the boundaries of this rapidly developing technology. Creating shoes with 3D Printing these designers were allowed the largest amount of sculptural freedom. The production method used is the highest quality of 3D printing (SelectiveLaser Sintering) in a hard Nylon and all-new soft Rubber material by 3D Systems and combining the two allows the creation of fully functioning high heels. Each shoe will be available as a up to 50 pair limited edition.
“The sculptural sensibility and experimentation of Hadid’s architectural language and United Nude’s expertise In manufacturing the most innovative designs has embodied the shoe with the essence of fire – delicate and ephemeral, yet compelling and dynamic.”
“This shoe uses the most cutting-edge 3D printing technology both in design and execution, but the result is a shoe that could have been an object found in nature, a delicate fossil that has been buried on the bottom of the ocean for millennia.”
“We were particularly interested in the kinds of images the shoe could create, both when static and when in motion. The UNX2 shoe creates patterns of movement and produces a dynamic form of image-making through motion.”
“Working on this project has allowed us a unique opportunity to explore and expand within a rare dimension. Combined with our own extensive experience in 3D technology we have created a refreshing approach to the way a shoe may be can be perceived.”
“I have used this project to establish a moment where physical innovation in materials density and layered matrix node structuring, are coalesced to enhance the sensuality of the female form whilst remaining clearly technological.”
News via United Nude
Cite: Karissa Rosenfield. Archdaily
