laura papp creates concept shoes that turn from flats to heels

laura papp creates concept shoes that turn from flats to heels
all images courtesy of laura papp

throughout her career, designer laura papp has shown an interest in the creation of flat objects that can be turned into three-dimensional ones and the other way around. for her latest project ‘HEEL2’, she has created four shoe concepts that can be turned and returned from high heels to flats with just a minimal gesture. the aim of her project is to bring support to all females who know what it’s like to wear heels for a long period of time and it thinks especially about those who travel by bike.

these four shoe concepts can be turned from high heels to flats with just a minimal gesture

the first step was to determine the material, and while many alternatives were suggested, she decided to stick to 3D printing. to make the shoes stable she had to work with triangles and supporting applications in order to create a flexible shoe. another important aspect of the design was to eliminate the arches on the soles because due to the triangles, she was only achieving angles. the result had to keep the standing heel on its place and it needed to strong so that it won’t close when walking. a pivoting solution was applied to every connecting point.

they have all been 3D printed

each show is closed with a magnet, but all of them move in different ways. in the ‘x shoe’, the arms turn inside out along an axis and the heel components close each other. the ‘z shoe’ has a trapezoid shape with arms that support the heels. finally, the ‘a shoe’ and ‘m shoe’ have triangle flaps that provide the stability of the heel.

the archers were eliminated 

the ‘x shoe’ has arms that turn inside out along an axis and the heel components close each other

the ‘z shoe’ has a trapezoid shape with arms that support the heels

in the ‘a shoe’ triangle flaps provide heel stability

the heel is around eleven centimeters high

movement of ‘x shoe’

movement of ‘z shoe’

movement of ‘a shoe’

movement of ‘m shoe’

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.