WALKBACK
Final Project / MDEF01 / IAAC / FABLAB BCN / Auxence Daillen
Why this project ?
Picture yourself on a shopping street in any city around the world. The same brands, the same shoe models, the same synthetic materials. A handful of multinational corporations now dictate the trends and consumption patterns of billions of people. But what happened to ancestral craftsmanship? These traditional methods, perfectly adapted to local climates and regional morphologies, are gradually fading away in the face of industrial standardization.
Yet these ancestral techniques hold the solutions to the challenges of our time. They are naturally sustainable, using local materials and environmentally respectful processes. In a context where sustainability becomes crucial and consumers aspire to break free from uniformization, these traditional know-how represent a path forward.
The story begins with a simple observation: why should our feet, all unique, have to adapt to standardized shoes? This question became the foundation for exploring how the alliance between technological personalization and local know-how could create a production model that is simultaneously sustainable, personalized, and culturally rooted.
The Research Journey
Understanding the Problem
The first step was to quantify what we intuitively know: every foot is unique. Through 3D scanning technology, the research revealed the fundamental mismatch between individual foot morphology and mass-produced shoe lasts. This isn't just about comfort—it's about health, posture, and the biomechanical consequences of forcing unique feet into standardized forms.
The scanning process became more than just measurement; it became a tool for understanding how industrial design has ignored human diversity in favor of production efficiency.
Developing Personalization Technology
From this understanding emerged the need for a software solution that could translate individual foot geometry into personalized shoe lasts. This wasn't about creating more industrial shoes, but about providing the foundation for truly adapted footwear.
The software represents a bridge between digital precision and human craftsmanship—technology serving tradition rather than replacing it.
Rediscovering Traditional Techniques
The choice of espadrilles wasn't arbitrary. These traditional Catalan shoes embody everything that mass production has forgotten: local materials, adapted construction, cultural significance, and sustainable practices. Working with espadrilles meant learning ancestral gestures, understanding natural materials like hemp rope and cotton canvas, and mastering traditional braiding techniques.
This hands-on exploration revealed why these techniques survived centuries: they work. They create comfortable, durable, and environmentally sound footwear using locally available resources.
Innovation in Service of Tradition
The challenge became clear: how to preserve traditional quality while making production viable for contemporary needs? The answer was a braiding machine that mechanizes the rope sole creation while respecting traditional techniques.
This machine doesn't replace the artisan—it amplifies their capability. It maintains the quality and character of hand-braided soles while enabling production speeds that can compete with industrial alternatives.
What this Research Demonstrates
Hybrid Production Models Are Viable
The project proves that combining digital personalization with traditional techniques creates a viable alternative to mass production. Technology doesn't have to destroy tradition—it can preserve and enhance it.
Local Manufacturing Can Compete
By reducing transportation, eliminating intermediaries, and focusing on durability over disposability, local production models can offer competitive alternatives to global supply chains.
Cultural Preservation Through Innovation
Rather than museum-piece preservation, active innovation within traditional frameworks keeps cultural practices alive and relevant. The braiding machine extends the life of espadrille-making traditions by making them economically sustainable.
Personalization Serves Health
Custom-fit footwear isn't luxury—it's preventive healthcare. Shoes adapted to individual biomechanics can prevent posture problems, foot deformations, and related health issues.
Beyond Footwear
This research extends beyond shoes to question how we produce, consume, and relate to everyday objects. It suggests that between mass production and pure handcraft lies a third way: technologically enhanced tradition that serves human diversity rather than suppressing it.
The espadrille becomes a symbol of what's possible when we refuse to accept that globalized uniformity is inevitable. It demonstrates that local solutions, enhanced by thoughtful innovation, can offer genuine alternatives to industrial standardization.
The question isn't whether we can return to the past, but whether we can create a future where technology serves tradition, where personalization serves community, and where innovation preserves rather than destroys cultural diversity.
Last updated