OBJECTIVE

Engineer an experiential installation to give consumers a look behind the curtain at Nike’s recycling process.

APPROACH

The Virgil Abloh-defined “power plant of a ‘different’ kind” isn’t simply a retail space, it’s a “cultural hub” — designed to foster the inventive spirit of Chicago’s youth through a series of workshops and mentorship programs. It’s also a call-to-action: an invitation for visitors to play a role in Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe initiative. As customers donate their shoes, a conveyor belt transports the worn-out kicks into a collection site through a complex matrix of twists and turns.

RESULTS

Nike extended the popular installation’s original eight-week lifespan through March 2020. All donated shoes will eventually be transformed into Nike Grind — a sustainable textile, cultivated by Nike — and used to create an Abloh-designed community basketball court for Chicago ahead of next year’s NBA All-Star.

\\ photography and video by Jeremy Fenske \\