Design studio Panter & Tourron is celebrated for its innovative use of materials and playful approach to design, but this year the designers have knocked it out of the park. For Milan Design Week 2023, founders Stefano Panterotto and Alexis Tourron have really delivered the unexpected — they've turned the sole of a sneaker into a meeting place. And it's as cool as it sounds.

The installation is called "SOFTSCOPE" and it dominates the courtyard of Capsule Plaza at Spazio Maiocchi in Milan. It pulls part of its conceptual design cues from the ’70s Radical Design Movement, which was all about forward-thinking spatial utopias, and translated them into an architectural, pyramid-shaped monolith that blends elements of technology and society through the inclusion of integrated seating.

As Panterotto tells Highsnobiety, that seating is intended to invite people to take a breath during the hectic design week. "Our idea was to create a conversation piece. A huge monument to gather people after two years of Covid. We wanted to bring people together again. A place to relax and conversate, to exchange." And given that the installation is bright purple, it also looks way more fun than you're average meeting space.

The sneaker element of the design comes in through the project's materiality. "SOFTSCOPE" is made entirely by XL EXTRALIGHT® Organix 3.0, which is a new bio-based material typically used by footwear designers as it's mega soft and springy, meaning it's perfect for lightweight shoe soles. "The material is quite fun," says Panterotto. "We really wanted people to touch it and experience it." Further, Organix 3.0 is produced using bio and circular feedstock from recycled organic waste products so it's environmentally responsible, too. Plus, as Panter & Tourron demonstrate here, it's extremely versatile.

"We wanted to twist the point of view of the sole," Panterotto says, getting down to the concept's core. "It's usually something that is hidden. [We wanted] to make it visible, to cover the entire structure."

That approach is really interesting and if you break it down even more, you'll see that the re-contextualization of the sneaker sole goes much further than the shoe itself. You could argue that taking something typically hidden and underfoot and using it to cover a public stage — one that actively invites people to come together and converse — is a metaphor for how sneaker culture has exploded over the past few years.

After all, it really wasn't so long ago that sneakerheads were considered to belong to a niche subculture, a relatively hidden group of people that were united by their love of footwear design. Today, sneaker culture is everywhere, intersecting numerous styles and cultures. And what better way to illustrate this shift than by using footwear material to blanket a space that unites people from all walks of life?

Discover more Panter & Tourron works here and more about XL EXTRALIGHT® here