Tag Archives: renaissance

AI imagines Renaissance Architecture as Footwear to create absolutely stunning new styles

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Putting soul and sole together…

With the kind of attention to detail that only AI can come up with, these shoes are an avant-garde combination of two industries that have very little of an overlap. Envisioned by AI-artist Str4ngeThing, the footwear, which range in a variety of styles, capture architectural and artistic expressions and details from Renaissance Architecture. The results are absolutely stunning, even though impractical. They are, however, “a testament to the power of design and innovation using AI,” according to the designer.

Designer: Str4ngeThing

These heels use a combination of floral motifs and traditional Renaissance spires and towers

Looking like it’s made using a combination of thin-sliced wood veneer or cork, these shoes have an immense amount of detail in them. While footwear design usually sticks to a “less is more” agenda, these shoes are the absolute antithesis to the fact. Chuck Taylors are iconic for their simplicity, so are Crocs, and Christian Louboutins… but these Renaissance Footwear concepts aren’t. Every shoe compresses an entire era of iconic architecture into its small ‘footprint’. Sure, the AI loses some crucial details and makes a few assumptions while generating the images, but the results look marvelous no less.

A classic interpretation of the Italian Renaissance, this mocassin features arched windows like the ones seen in Roman architecture

Some shoes go a step further by including sculptural elements in their details like the one above. The tongue of the shoe, right near the shin, looks like a grotesque – a key element of Renaissance and even medieval architecture. The midsole area has some wonderful detailing, while the entire shoe looks like it was carved from sandstone. The shoe concept below is a stunning example of grandiosity, with an entire relief mural ‘carved’ into the side of the stone. The top of the shoe is an interpretation of the highly detailed Corinthian-style orders seen at the top of architectural columns. Is it practical? Absolutely not. Is it awe-striking? Undeniably.

“This collection is also a true testament to the importance of creativity and innovation in the world of fashion. It demonstrates that with a forward-thinking approach and a commitment to excellence, it is possible to create something truly exceptional,” says designer Str4ngeThing.

Not all footwear designs get the balance between different aesthetic elements right, though… like the proportions between architecture and human sculpture.

The shoe concept above goes way beyond architecture and builds an entire diorama on the footwear body. Although it isn’t perfect, you can see the Roman columns, the angled roofs of the Pantheon-style building, and the environments around it. The footwear below feels like a fresco brought to life, almost like Michelangelo made the footwear himself.

The AI has a long way to go in making concepts that are feasible, but at least in its current stage, Midjourney’s images are about as stunningly hyperrealistic as they can be. “I’m excited to see how this collection will inspire and influence the world of fashion, and I’m proud to have played a part in bringing it to life,” Str4ngeThing mentions in his Instagram post.

The post AI imagines Renaissance Architecture as Footwear to create absolutely stunning new styles first appeared on Yanko Design.

How Michelangelo’s Statue of David helped inspire one of the most beautiful, home-friendly speaker designs ever

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Torso Speaker inspired by Michelangelo Statue of David

The fact that fabric is now considered an industrial design material can be directly attributed to Google. When the company first designed smart speakers for homes, it deliberately looked to interior decor for inspiration. In came soft forms, fabric clads, leather trims, and home-friendly color palettes. Google’s smart home products played a pivotal role in reinventing how home appliances are designed to fit into their domestic surroundings rather than look like gadgets, and it’s something the Torso Speaker embraces so incredibly well with its statuesque design that draws inspiration from marble sculptures from the Greco-Roman times. The speaker’s bust-shape is a rather literal interpretation of turning gadgets into home-friendly decor, but there’s something immensely poetic about how it draws a balance between the two! By drawing from the beauty and perfection of marble sculptures, the speaker echoes those very attributes too – elegance, beauty, perfection.

Torso Speaker inspired by Michelangelo Statue of David

What the Torso does is quite literally show us that we’re in a Renaissance period of smart home-appliance design. Speakers are being made to blend into surroundings, with them sometimes looking like lamps, furniture, or even as IKEA’s demonstrated, photo-frames. Designer Yang Dong Wook created the Torso speaker in the image of Michelangelo’s bust of David, bringing its nuanced classical qualities into product design. Created as a part of Samsung’s Design Membership Program, the Torso speaker explores the relationship between interiors and gadgets (sort of the same way Samsung’s Serif TV did). The speaker looks remarkably like an abstract bust you’d proudly place on your mantelpiece, displaying for all your guests to see. It adopts the same shapes, contours, and tilts as the Bust of David, with the slanted shoulders and the slightly angled head, resulting in an incredibly expressive form.

Torso Speaker inspired by Michelangelo Statue of David

Torso Speaker inspired by Michelangelo Statue of David

The speaker’s built to scale and serves a highly elevated decorative purpose in its surroundings. Its neck acts as a vessel, allowing you to use the speaker as a vase or a place to hang your ornaments, and that gray finish gives it a pristine marble-like appearance too.

Torso Speaker inspired by Michelangelo Statue of David

Torso Speaker inspired by Michelangelo Statue of David

While the upper part of the Torso serves as a vase-like container, its collar area comes outfitted with the speakers, sitting under a fabric clad. The speakers fire forwards (because of how the Torso has a very definite front profile), while passive radiator channels in the bottom create a reverberating bass.

Torso Speaker inspired by Michelangelo Statue of David

Torso Speaker inspired by Michelangelo Statue of David

The controls for the speaker are located on the shoulder of the bust. A power button on the left lets you switch the Torso on or off, and a Bluetooth button on the right lets you connect a device. The shoulder-bridge sports a touch-sensitive volume slider, so increasing or decreasing the volume becomes an incredibly interactive, almost sensual experience, as you drag your fingertip down the Torso’s shoulder. Talk about a product having sex appeal!!

Torso Speaker inspired by Michelangelo Statue of David

Torso Speaker inspired by Michelangelo Statue of David

The Torso speaker does a few things pretty adeptly. For designers and companies, it shows how inspiration can be found practically anywhere. For a consumer, it unlocks an absolutely new category of products that redefine tech and home decor completely, combining the timeless beauty of Greco-Roman sculptures with a contemporary, functional product… but most importantly, for the vast design movement, it shows how a design can have a timeless quality to it, by borrowing from something that’s truly iconic, classical, and evergreen in its allure!

Designer: Yang Dong Wook

Torso Speaker inspired by Michelangelo Statue of David

Hyatt and Starwood hotel chains suffer credit card breach

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HEI, the holding company behind a wide number of hotel brands including Marriott and (wait for it) Hyatt, has announced that it suffered a data breach via its payment tools. According to the outfit, hackers installed malware inside payment processing...