Zaha Hadid's 3D Printed Flame Heels Among 5 Designs to Re-Invent the Shoe

FLAMES / Zaha Hadid. Image © United Nude

Zaha Hadid, Fernando Romero, and Ben Van Berkel are making headlines alongside two renowned artists for their 3D printed reinventions of the high heel. A collaborative vision spearheaded by United Nude and 3D Systems, the highly anticipated project was unveiled yesterday at the "Re-Inventing Shoes" exhibition at Milan Design Week.

Each sculptural heel was 3D printed using SelectiveLaser Sintering in a hard Nylon and all-new soft Rubber material, making a "fully functioning" shoe. Only up to 50 pairs of each will be sold. See them all, after the break. 

AMMONITE / Fernando Romero

AMMONITE / Fernando Romero. Image © United Nude

“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.”

UNX2 / UNStudio

UNX2 / Ben Van Berkel - UNStudio. Image © United Nude

“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.”

YOUNG Shoe / Michael Young Studio

YOUNG Shoe / Michael Young Studio. Image © United Nude

“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.”

ILABO / Ross Lovegrove

ILABO / Ross Lovegrove. Image © United Nude

“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.”

FLAMES / Zaha Hadid

“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.”

News via United Nude

About this author
Cite: Karissa Rosenfield. "Zaha Hadid's 3D Printed Flame Heels Among 5 Designs to Re-Invent the Shoe" 15 Apr 2015. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/620023/zaha-hadid-s-3d-printed-flame-heels-among-5-designs-to-re-invent-the-shoe> ISSN 0719-8884

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