WALKING STRUCTURES: PAPER SHOES

VIVIEN LIIRD 300ryerson school of interior designPROFESSOR VOGELoctober 3 2012

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RESEARCHPRISMATIC CELLULAR SYSTEMSPRISM, SEMI-REGULAR PRISMS, ANTIPRISMS

R O C H E

TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTIONDESIGN BRIEF

Introduction

Research

Experimentation

Final Piece

Conclusion

Bibliography

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Walking Structures: Paper Shoes is an exercise that explores and experiements different prismatic cellular structures. Knowing their strengths and how they can add support to certain parts of the feet. Designing and construct-ing a pair of paper shoes using 2-ply Bristol board, prismatic cells and structural strenght will be important in creating a sucessful product. The final shoe will be useable indoors, can be assembled in slotting and folding. Design consider-ations go to aesthetics and functionality to keep the shoe of the foot.

RESEARCHPAPER FOLDING TECHNIQUES PRECEDENTS

MATT SHLIAN

The shift in angle of each prism shows movement that really catches the eye. It is shows that irregular pris-matic cellular structures can still be strong and hold up a support.

ELENA SALMISTRARO

Elena creates orgamic textile patterns for a series of headwear and neckwear by repeating elementary folds with paper and Tyvek - water resistant paper. The cellular prism shapes are small and can be flexibily built to create any area of shape desired.

TINE DE RUYSSER

Tine folds in various materi-als such as paper, plywood, goldplate for different pur-poses from vases or bowls to wearables like jewerly or clothing. She experiments the different production meth-ods with folding patterns. Tessellations were used, and various geometric shapes are seen: squares, triangles, to create a structural three-dimensional object. A cellular system can also be seen within the patterned folds. 8 5

Understanding the variety of prismatic structures, anti prism, semi-prisms, with various faces and verteces

RESEARCHPRISMATIC CELLULAR SYSTEMS - NATURAL WORLD

NATURE’S DESIGN

Geometry and pattern are appar-ent in nature’s design, seen in snowflakes, shells and leaves.

SUCCULENTS

Layer of leaves or flower petals to create a spiral shape, looks like geometric triangles.

HONEYCOMB

The honeycombs are prismatic cellular systems as bees build a mass of hexagonal wax cells for their nests.

RESEARCHPRISMATIC CELLULAR SYSTEMS - MAN MADE WORLD

BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER

Spanish architects ,Vaillo + Iriga-ray, designed a functional rectilin-ear block building.Its architectural features are the exterior louvers constructed of 3mm thick alumin-im panels arranged in tessellated origami patterns. The folds were designed to screen light along the sides of the building from the sun.

BOSQUE DE LA ESPERANZA

This structure resembles a forest canopy in the Colom-bian slum settlement. Made of wrapped steel mesh of dodeca-hedrons supported by angled steel columns transformed the drab area into a lively public space in the neighbourhood.

This metal gold plate is made from a square and two triangles. One can see that the three pieces of geometric shapes are slotted with one another to create a free-standing sculptural piece.6 7

PAPER FOLDING TECHNIQUES ORIGAMI TESSELLATIONS

OPEN BACK TRIANGLE TWIST OPEN BACK SQUARE TWIST

TESSELLATIONS - comes from the Latin tessella, meaning “small square”. The Romans frequently used squares for making mosaics and tile designs.

Origami tessellations are geometric patterns that can be repeated forever on paper. It is used with no cutting or gluing, just one piece of paper. Art can be created in these intricate pleats, folds, and twists based on geometric grids. Many pieces are inspired by Islamic art. Today, origami tessellations are known to be from Shuzo Fujimoto, a Japanese chemistry teacher who explored the possibilities of folding repeated shapes on paper.

EXPERIMENTATIONPROTOTYPE 1INSPIRATION

Tessellations were interesting to me because of their geometric cellular systems, and the way pattern can be shaped in one single sheet of paper. Some are flexible and moves like a second skin with movement. In that sense, I wanted to adopt those characteristics into my shoe: comfortability, coherence of material and flexibility in movement.

Analysis:

Patterns from crochet patterns first inspired because of their intricate weaving, showing negative spaces that are prismatic. I liked the idea of using something one dimensional (yarn) and transfoming into stages of two dimensional flatter plane, then finally shaping into a wearable and flexible three dimensional object.

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RESEARCHERGONOMIC and ANTHROPOMETRIC FOOTWEAR SHOE DESIGN PRECEDENTS

ERGONOMIC and ANTHROPOMETRIC FOOTWEAR ANATOMY OF THE FOOT

The way one balances on the foot is important, and it is important to otherstand foot antamony, and how one uses the different muscles, nerves, bones in the feet when walking or running. If the feet is not prop-erly balanced or supported, it can affect the rest of the body, especially the spinal alignment.

FEETDozens of bones, joints, muscles, tendons, verse, blood vessels and fascia. When the body tissues become swollen, they affect the bone structures of the feet that form the arches. Arches are supported by muscles and ligaments, and important because they support the pressures of the feet, contributing to strength, mobility of the foot. During any movement of standing, walking, running, the arches absorb the pressures made on the feed and spreads energy up to the legs. Arch height may vary from person to person, and can change as age increases. Losing the arch in your feet affects the feet, knees, hips, and spine. Proper support is needed so that that musculoskeletal area of the feet is not damaged and vulner-able to injury. If the arches are lost (for example through conditions of flat foot, overpronation, or simple overuse), the shock-absorbing quality of the arches disappears. This affects the feet, knees, hips and spine. Losing the arch in your feet also changes the position of the knee and hip, which makes them more vulnerable to injury from working on your feet.

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EXPERIMENTATIONPROTOTYPE 1FOLDING TECHNIQUE

EXPERIMENTATIONPROTOTYPE 3INSpiration

This technique is a series of folding and slotting. First, small strips of paper about 1 cubic centimeter by 6 cubic centimeters are cut. They are folding in half and quarter sizes, slotting against each other to create the zig-zag edges you see on your left. Many more slotting creates a long line of pattern. Made from first a 2D rectangular strip, then folded into a flatter 3D shape, square and making up triangular negative space shows how this cellular system is transforming.

Connecting many lines of this fold and weaving them together creates a flexible area that can be used as a more 3D effect. Seen here, the heel and front of the shoe has the same folding technique as the sole yet it is used as a purpose to wrap around the feet.

Coherent in design, as it looks like the whole shoe is made out of one long strip of paper, it is comfortable, simple and light in weight. The zig zag edges add an interesting element to the plaid weave of squares.

There are many examples in origami called Flexagons, made up of many pieces where the final model could rotate and flex. This particular one is desid-ghed by Yami Yamuachi. The units are easy to make, however the construction is more difficult. Using 12 squares of strong paper, a series of folds and slots are using to create a moveable object, producting a kaledioscope effect.

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EXPERIMENTATIONPROTOTYPE 2INSPIRATION

EXPERIMENTATIONPROTOTYPE 2FOLDING TECHNIQUE

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This technique is a series of folding and slotting. First, small strips of paper about 1 cubic centimeter by 6 cubic centimeters are cut. They are folding in half and quarter sizes, slotting against each other to create the zig-zag edges you see on your left. Many more slotting cre-ates a long line of pattern. Made from first a 2D rectangular strip, then folded into a flatter 3D shape, square and making up triangular nega-tive space shows how this cellular system is transforming.

Instead of the the planar composition in Prototype 1, the units are stood on their height and tied on both ends with thin strings of paper. Joinery was complex and tedious yet it allowed maximum flexibility on the sole. The vertical zig-zag points creates the reflexology for the feet.

However, the joinery to connect the sole to the top of the shoe was difficult and very time consuming. Visually, the texture and pattern had good aesthetic qualities. The sole of the shoe was flexible enough to bend with tension and compression and is able to stretch and expand.

Inspiration:Fish scales are patterns yet also have a cellular system, layered on top of each other in a certain direction. This creates texture and repetition that visually pleases the aesthetics of the object.

EXPERIMENTATIONPROTOTYPE 3folding technique

FINAL PIECEWEARING THE SHOE

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Inspired by the Fireworks flexagons, the joinery was adapted to strength the joinery, since slotting on thicker paper did not secure the units. This is a single unit, consisting of a structural shape of triangular prisms merged together.

Although joinery was improving, it did not structurally stay in its place. This is one way of joinery, where many units slot together with a strip of long paper holds them in the center. The last unit and the first merely slot together to create the circular structure. This was intended for the heel of the foot for stronger support. Even though the mass was dense and could hold a lot of weight, cleanliness of the folding and joinery were not adequate for this project to be successful.

Creating the sole of the shoe was also a problem as joinery was dif-ficult when units were strung in a row. Even though cellular systems were present, making the shoe as a whole design would be difficult.

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FINAL PIECEPROCESS and DOCUMENTATION

FINAL PIECEshoe design

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With material usage limits of 2-5 sheets, 22 x 28 per shoe, this shoe was constructed with as little material as possible, only 1. 5 sheets were used on each shoe.

A certain length was needed in order for the slotting space to be perfect between each cellular structure. The paper lenght had to be 6 times as long as its width

Next, folding the paper in half and quarter into the center, a V shape was created as well as slotting space to create the Z pattern.

After measuring the feet length and width, an approximate area was created for the sole of the shoe, made up of 12 lines with the cellular structural pattern.

In terms of joinery, long strips of paper with the same width is weaved in and out of the slotted pattern to keep the sole together. This type of joinery is successful as it looks seamless.

Neatly tucking the joinery strips inside its complex weave, the final soles are not only comfortable, but flexible and creates texture.

Finally, the top of the shoes are con-structed, with the same technique, only used in 3D, being able to be flexible, wrapping around the heel and toes in a good fit, and does not need straps to hold the foot in place.

Design goal: REDESIGN TOMS SHOE

A TOMS shoe is known for its easy-to-wear slip on design, and its comfortability. It however lacks aesthetic qualities and ergonomic consideration.

VISUALLY

- pattern- repeition- texture- scale- unity

CONCEPTUALLY

-Mimics the weaving of crochet, with paper- having cellular structure that transforms from 2D to 3D with flexible form

FUNCTIONALLY

-Breatheable Shoes -Grips well to feet -Aesthetically Pleasing

-Comfortable

Design solutionS:

PHOTOGRAPHSFINAL PIECE

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concept statement:This shoe is adapted and inspired by crocheting, the negative spaces have similar charactertics that show 2D prismatic cellular systems. The process of constructing the shoe, a series of paper transformation occors, from rectangles to squares, the edges have a triangular shape that gives this simple cellular system a complexity that is cohesive

CONCLUSION

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Footwear design. Aki Choklat. London : Laurence King Pub, 2012.

Origami tessellations : awe-inspiring geometric designs. Eric Gjerde. Wellesley, Mass. : A K Peters, c2009.

Extreme origami. Kunihiko Kasahara. New York : Sterling Pub., c2002.

Origami : the complete guide to the art of paperfolding. Beech, Rick. London : Lorenz, 2001.

PHOTOS http://www.orthofit.in/web/images/vasyli/heel_effect.jpghttp://runsanfran.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/foot_bones_diagram.jpghttp://www.pleatfarm.com/2012/03/20/bosque-de-la-esperanza-giancarlo-mazzanti-architecture/http://www.cpfs.mpg.de/web/forschung/forschproj/boride/default.aspx?action=PrintViewhttp://www.pleatfarm.com/2010/03/25/folds-tine-de-ruysser/http://www.pleatfarm.com/2010/04/25/origamic-textiles-elena-salmistraro/http://ars.sciencedirect.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0010854501003216-gr1.gifhttp://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/shoes/mbt/mbt-foot-diagram.gif

This exercise has taught me to understand and appropriately apply theories of human behaviour, by selecting ergonomic and anthropometric data. I was able to identify a design problema and use problem solving methods for product inno-vation. Using sketches and ideation drawings to communicate was beneficial for applying two-dimensional and three-dimensional design solutions.