Did you know that by receiving the gift of a wristwatch, architect Richard Rogers was inspired to design the Centre Pompidou? The watch, an Accutron Spaceview, featured a unique design with its mechanisms exposed. Rogers was inspired by this and created a building that moved all ductwork, plumbing, and electrical conduits to the exterior of the building.
This design was so intriguing, that other architects and designers began to be influenced by it, including Tinker Hatfield.
Hatfield was an architect who designed buildings for Nike, but switched to designing shoes in the 1980s. After being influenced by the strong design of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Hatfield was inspired to design shoes that mirrored these same style choices. Most notably, Hatfield wanted to expose the inner workings of a sneaker by creating a “window” to see inside.
This style choice led to the creation of one of the most iconic sneakers of our time, the Nike Air Max. To learn more about how the Accutron Spaceview influenced the creative movement, take a look at the infographic below:

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