Fascinated by this shape, innovative footwear company United Nude developed an ambitious project based on three-dimensional resolutions.
Called “Lo Res” – standing for “Low Resolution” – the project focuses on projecting on different objects a series of 3D points and connecting them, allowing triangular shapes to appear.
Further distortions in the designs can be created through a lower or higher resolution that, fragmenting the object, radically transforms it.
So far United Nude developed a series of products including a pair of futuristic “Lo Res” pumps in four different colours, a Lamborghini Countach, a Verner Panton “Pantone” chair and vodka glasses with a matching bottle.
As United Nude co-founder Rem D Koolhaas (nephew of architect Rem Koolhaas, recently awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition, opening at the end of this week in Venice) explains, the footwear company is currently working with INUS technology, the Rapidform creators, to develop the software for further applications.
The “Lo-Res” project will be particularly interesting in the fashion and interior design fields since it will allow its users to alter and transform the shapes and dimensions of ordinary objects.
Do you feel the Lo Res technique will push the boundaries of fashion design?
Rem D Koolhaas: I don’t think it will do that, but it will allow people to use it as an efficient way to create design options. Designers will be able to produce more and better shapes in a shorter time, in the same way music producers create a track in one day all by themselves.
What’s the hardest part of developing this design method?
Rem D Koolhaas: The hardest part was the manual aspect of the project. While in principle the method employs the software, the results were all created manually so far. At present we are working with Rapidform, which are the best you can find in this field, so I expect further software developments to go smoother and quicker as well.
Would you ever launch any collaborations between United Nude and an interior designer or architect using the Lo Res design method and produce homeware or furniture?
Rem D Koolhaas: Yes, as we are open minded. It wouldn’t be right to drop names at the moment as we would consider this approach on a case-by-case basis, but we have a few designers and manufacturers in mind.
Will the products that went through the Lo Res design process be available on the market in future?
Rem D Koolhaas: We are preparing the design of a concept car and we are developing further the glasses and the chair. They will be available as soon as they are ready!
So far you only gave the “Lo Res treatment” to one iconic monument, the Statue of Liberty, why did you opt for this specific monument?
Rem D Koolhaas: We did the Statue of Liberty as a trial because we knew its asymmetry would have caused it to lose at some point its recognisable shapes and silhouette and would have transformed it from a monument into a sculptural building.
Will United Nude develop further footwear and also men’s designs employing the Lo Res technique?
Rem D Koolhaas: It crossed our mind, but we haven’t started it yet.
Do you feel that architecture can inspire us cutting edge fashion designs?
Rem D Koolhaas: Not just architecture, but simply thinking out of the box. Architects have been doing that in highly conceptual and intellectual ways and their method has influenced other disciplines as well.
Among the contemporary fashion designers who do you think is bringing a fresh perspective into fashion through architecture inspired designs?
Rem D Koolhaas: That’s our main aim at United Nude, but there are many talented designers out there doing it, among them Issey Miyake and Hussein Chalayan.
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