Footwear is apart of our lifestyle. If it’s used for working out, going to work, going to school or simply lounging around. Every shoe has a purpose and is intended to satisfy those purposes. The biggest shoe brands like Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Asics, etc have found their audience and have catered for their customers needs and are continuing to satisfy those purposes in the best evolutionary way possible.

Signature athlete shoes lead most of these top brands. By the creation of a high performing sneaker for each in their respective fields. No athlete is alike so every performance shoe will differ in design to fit the style of the player and to enhance the player’s performance.

Basketball shoes and running shoes are two completely different styles of shoes designed to create the best possible experience. Runners are made with the intention of a forward motion. Designed for comfortability with enough support and cushioning all in a light weight shoe for longer or shorter runs. While basketball shoes also have the same motives as running shoes the overall design and style of the shoe changes for a more intense sport. These players are constantly jumping, stopping rapidly, and switching directions every second. So, the shoe has to be prepared to take on this challenge while also performing at its best. 

Things like ankle support, traction, shock absorption, flexibility, lateral movement, forward motion, lightweight ness, comfortability and etc. are all things to consider to make a high performance shoe. What will change is how much these considerations effect the design of the shoe because every shoe is created with a different purpose.

Just like every shoe has a purpose, every building has a purpose. The same thought process through shoe designing can be brought into how we create architecture. For the understanding of why we are doing the things we are doing to satisfy the purpose of the building. 

Every project has a client, site, requirements, and etc. So, to produce the best possible experience for the users, we should start with identifying the purpose for the space. Since every project is not the same, we need to know what its intentions are and what it plans to do. Architecture and shoe design lean closer together. They look for the same result of improving the experience of the user and what we can take away is that we need to identify the purpose for the specific things we are designing for.