Pixel Shoe is a one-man shoe factory that explores the past and the future of craft manufacturing. In an intimate exchange between customer and manufacturer, each party contributes to the production of a bespoke piece of footwear. By leveraging the speed and plasticity of PU foam casting, within a mere few minutes the customer leaves with an affordable ergonomic shoe, molded to the exact shape of their sole and fused to their socks. Pixel Shoe embraces a low-tech approach to custom manufacturing that approximate scenarios in the near future, when large factories and sweatshops will no longer be needed, and mass production will be replaced with mass customization. The project challenges the need for pre-defined footwear sizes, questioning future production methods, such as whether the gap between manufacturer and consumer will increase, or will it be reduced by the fourth industrial revolution?
Tidhar Zagagi
Project Guidance : Tal Gur, The Department of Industrial Design, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem
Photos: Nadav Goren
Video: Omer Cohen
Graphics: Maya Lynne Adar