UNX2 SHOES FOR UNITED NUDE IN MILAN 2015 BY UNSTUDIO

 

In the context of Milan 2015, five prominent architectural firms and designer created five pairs of sculptural shoes for United Nude brand, made entirely on a 3D printer.

The international architectural practice of UNStudio, founded by Ben van Berkel presented UNX2 shoes by which the office “wanted to dress the foot in such a way as to make its form partially visible, to highlight the mechanics of the foot and the visual effects that can be created by the shoe in motion“, states van Berkel.

 

“We were particularly interested in the kinds of images the shoe could create, both when static and when in motion. When the wearer is still, the curve of the foot can be glimpsed within the shoe and the dynamics of movement are suggested by the curving vertical ribbons that envelop it. However, once the wearer begins to move, shifting levels of transparency are created and the vertical lines create a staccato rhythm reminiscent of early stop-motion photography. The UNX2 shoe creates patterns of movement and produces a dynamic form of image-making through motion.

 

It was also our intention to make visible the “process” of design in the final object: the digital strategy that was employed when testing the position of the foot within the shoe. So there is a kind of literal transparency, but also a phenomenological transparency that reveals both the process of design and the processes of movement.

The vertical ribbons and the hoof-like shape of the shoe elongate the legs and create an almost animal-like extension.“