NikeLab Recreation Center

The “Re-Creation Center” was developed for the Nike-Reuse-a-Shoe campaign, which aims to engage young creative athletes through a sponsorship program on the topic of sustainability.

A back-of-house environment turns Nike’s recycling process upside down by enabling people to feel part of Nike’s sustainability solution. Potential visitors have the opportunity to buy Nike products and in return donate used sneakers for recycling. These shoes will be turned into Nike “Grind” and used for basketball courts designed by Virgil Abloh for the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago.

American fashion designer, entrepreneur, artist and DJ Virgil Abloh was Art Director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s collection. He is also Chief Executive Officer of the Milan-based label Off-White. After working for two years in an architecture firm, Abloh shifted his focus to fashion. Nike and Abloh worked together to develop an environment that combines sustainability and interactive experiences, tailor-made for Chicago residents. satis&fy worked closely with his design team for eight months until the store opened. A workshop room is available for young creative professionals to work with mentors from a variety of design fields. Recycled materials and Nike “Grind” were used everywhere, from the terrazzo tiles to the wall coverings throughout the room to the mannequins. The showpiece is a working mechanical conveyor system where the recycled shoes are loaded and moved through the room before falling behind a transparent 2.5 by 3.5 meter LED screen that displays how many shoes have been donated and what percentage of the material has been contributed to the NBA All-Star Court.

satis&fy teamed up with Nike as the scenographer and technical execution contractor. As a cultural center for Chicago’s creative people, the space offers the added value of directly implementable possibilities for individual product manufacturing.

\ Photos & Video: Jeremy Fenske \