A design studio that uses growth processes in nature as a source of inspiration, collaborated with the New Balance company to develop an innovative sole for running shoes.
By: Dafna Haim Langford
We have already told you about running shoes of the Puma company inspired by the cushions of the cat's feet. Today, on the occasion of the end of the marathon season, we are happy to tell you about a collaboration between a lecturer at MIT and the New-Balance company in the development of a new type of biomimetic sports shoes.
Jessica Rosenkrantz, a lecturer in the field of architecture at MIT, founded Nervous System, a generative design studio. In the studio, the working method is through programming objects that will "grow" by imitating growth processes in nature. The studio collaborates with the sports company New-Balance in the development of a sole for running shoes that will be produced with a XNUMXD printer, where the structure of bone cells and wood were a source of inspiration for the structure of the new sole.
One of the goals in designing a running sole is variable cushioning as a function of pressure level. The cells in wood or bone, occupy volume in a very efficient way and create strong structures with a minimum of material. In addition, the air trapped in the cellular structures allows resistance to varying pressures.
The work processes in the studio do not include the typical processes such as sketching, sculpting or modeling, but the development of software based on natural processes, which create patterns and shapes that are used to create a series of objects that can be built digitally, creating systems that grow and develop as opposed to creating static structures. At the core of the idea is the creation of very complex structures, based on individual cells as building blocks, which provide functional and structural flexibility.
Jessica Ronzcranst has a double degree in biology and architecture and hence the sources of inspiration that distinguish her work.
Nervous System has cooperation with companies in various fields. From special jewelry, furniture, shoes and even cooperation with Google.
