Concept Shoe 1 (CS1) is a design concept developed for Studio 3 at AUT's Colab. Wearers can rearrange the geometry of the shoe to transform from a high heel shoe into a flat, platform sandal. The shoe is made from the same molded plywood as the Herman Miller Lounge Chair Wood (LCW), designed by Ray and Charles Eames (1946), as its form was inspired by the curved pannels of plywood used in the LCW.

 

CS1 is the result of exploration into transhumanism, posthumanism and cyborgs. Looking to texts like Donna Harraway's 1991 A Cybodg Manifesto, the work of prosthetics developers Nick Bostrom, Hugh Herr and Bertolt Meyer, and artists Stelarc and ORLAN, CS1 represents exploration into body augmentation as a political tool. Channeling this through Ray and Charles Eames' modern, utilitarian design approcah, this design concept adopts a timeless aesthetic quality in its step toward embodying the feminist cyborg.

 

A particularly strong element of this design concept is its ability to be styled in a vast range of ways. As an elegant design solution for the problem of changing foot pitch, CS1 can be translated across materials and fashion design trends. Further development will look at the geometry of the shoe, to significantly push the degree of change between each configuration. Appropriate tilt and pivot mechanisms will also be developed and the shoe will be designed for commercial distribution.

 

This shoe was displayed as part of Colab's 2016 S1 studio at AUT, Auckland (exhibit pictured below).

 

Trak Gray, 2016.