Hasta La Ideas

We take the latest in zig-zagged sneakers for a spin on NYC streets

From their collection for Target to Marina, the puppet blogger,
Missoni’s playful spirit is hard to miss these days. But their collaboration with Converse, one of the earlier reinventions of the family-run Italian label, is the project that we still gravitate to most. This latest and fourth edition combines a raschel knit (a fabric with a texture almost like crochet) from Missoni’s Spring 2012 collection with a version of a Chuck Taylor All Star that was originally created for the U.S. Military in the ’60s.

With leather accents and a muted colorway of tans and greys, the limited-edition shoe is serious enough for the coming fall season. Missoni’s trademark zig-zags, along with bright blue accents (you can opt for blue laces too) and the luxurious softness of the material keep you cozy, and might just bring out a smile.

Debuting tonight, 8 September 2011, as part of Fashion’s Night Out, the shoes will be available at Missoni boutiques as well as Converse’s First String stores for $200.

Capture big-time adventures hands-free with this tiny waterproof camera

Expanding the range and versatility of their exceptional hands-free camera line, today Contour launches the latest addition to the family, the Roam. The new gadget maintains many of the great features of previous Contour models while adding its own twist. At the top of the list, the Roam has the ability to film underwater up to one meter. Also sporting a 170-degree wide-angle lens, it rotates and, when using the built in laser level, guarantees a perfectly-leveled shot. The Roam is now the most affordable in the Contour line-up—an achievement made possible without shedding too many features from its siblings.

The Roam includes an “Instant On-Record” switch, a single toggle that powers up and starts recording, eliminating stress about whether or not you’re rolling. Just over five ounces, the feature-packed device can record 1080p, 960p and 720p video all at 30 frames per second. As with the brand’s other products, the camera has a multitude of mounts, from windshield to helmet, to keep you capturing your adventures in any conditions.

The Roam sells from Contour’s online store for $200.

UPPERCASE is please to be a {small} part of Blogshop, a travelling photoshop + blogging workshop, when they make their next stop in New York City September 24 and 25. I’ve provided complimentary issues going into the goodie bags for all the participants, to help ignite their creative fires! Check out this gorgeous workspace that they’ll be using. wow.

Here’s a video from a recent workshop. Looks like too much fun!

B L O G S H O P 2 – Los Angeles from Son of Shark Pig on Vimeo.

Blogshop is run by Bri Emery of designlovefest + photographer Angela Kohler

“BLOGSHOP is is a Photoshop bootcamp. minus the push-ups. It is a full weekend spent stuffing your brain full of things to make your images on your blog unique and eye catching. We teach the basics from scratch as well as some more advanced techniques and then applying them with your own perspective to layouts that you will use when you go back to your own blog. People who have no experience with Photoshop will leave the course with confidence to create layout, prep images for mood boards and collages, retouch skin and color correct images, animate gifs, add textures, borders, type and drawing to their images to make each of their blog posts or other visual materials special. At the end of the first day we will have a portrait session, so on the second day you can work on your own pictures which will be perfect for contributor photos and bio pages. This jump-right-in approach to Photoshop is a great way to demystify the program, and make it another tool to bring with you into the competitive world of visual design.”

Dezeen Wire: architect David Adjaye has been announced as this year’s Design Miami Designer of the Year. 

He will create an installation called Genesis in an outdoor area at the entrance of Design Miami’s Temporary Structure at the fair, which takes place 29 November to 4 December 2011.

Last year’s Design Miami Designer of the Year 2011 was Konstantin Grcic – see his installation here.

Listen to our podcast interview with David Adjaye here and see all our stories about his work here.

Here are some more details from Design Miami:

Design Miami/, the global forum for design, is pleased to announce that David Adjaye, OBE, Principal Architect of Adjaye Associates, has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Designer of the Year Award. A site-specific installation by Adjaye, commissioned for the fair, will be presented at the 2011 edition of Design Miami/, November 29-December 4, 2011.

Each December, the Design Miami/ Designer of the Year Award recognizes an internationally renowned architect, designer, or studio whose body of work demonstrates unmatched quality, innovation and influence, while expanding the boundaries of design. The Designer of the Year must demonstrate a consistent history of outstanding work, along with a significant new project, career milestone, or other noteworthy achievement within the previous twelve months. Past Designer of the Year winners include Zaha Hadid, Marc Newson, Tokujin Yoshioka, the Campana Brothers, Maarten Baas, and Konstantin Grcic.

Renowned for a focus on museum-quality exhibitions of collectible design from the world’s top galleries, Design Miami/ has utilized the fair as a platform for architectural innovation since its inception, with its award-winning temporary structures, innovative exhibition designs and installations. Adjaye’s use of architecture as a catalyst for generating community, his novel application of materials, and his diverse catalogue of projects that intersect architecture, design and art, complement Design Miami’s objective of creating a forum that advances the discourse surrounding experimental design while encouraging visitors to connect and exchange ideas within its venue.

“Winning Designer of the Year is huge for me,” says Adjaye. “To win an award like this from the design community is really significant because so much of my work is about crossing platforms. Being recognized this year–which culminates in all of the work and research I’ve been doing in Africa–is extremely meaningful.”

The Award presented Adjaye with the opportunity to design a site-specific installation for Design Miami/ 2011. His pavilion, entitled Genesis will welcome visitors to the fair’s temporary structure on Miami Beach. Given an open brief for the commission by Design Miami/, Adjaye has created a pavilion that introduces the essence of his architectural ideas to a wider public in a temporary context.

Composed of hundreds of vertical wooden planks morphing into organic interior seating and opening up to the sky and surrounding environment, the triangular pavilion will serve as entryway to the fair, a community gathering area and a space for respite during the lively week. Choreographing these diverse functions in one structure exhibits Adjaye’s ability to organize space in a way that effortlessly guides the user and creates an engaging spatial experience through a transcendent use of materials.

Adjaye was chosen by a diverse selection committee comprising individuals who significantly impact international design discourse: Maarten Baas, Baas & Den Herder Studio; Daniel Charny, Design Curator and Critic; Pierre Doze, Design Critic; Marianne Goebl, Director for Design Miami/; Brooke Hodge, Hammer Museum; Ellen Lupton, Maryland Institute of College of Art & Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum; Ravi Naidoo, Design Indaba & Interactive Africa; Deyan Sudjic, Design Museum London; Noriko Takiguchi, Design Critic; Alexander von Vegesack, Vitra Design Museum & Boisbuchet.

“One thing that clearly sets David Adjaye apart from many of his contemporaries is the strong social agenda to his work,” says Goebl. “The democratic approach to design is clearly a benchmark of what he does, but as you look more deeply, there are so many layers to David’s work. His projects show a real sensitivity to materiality, not just aesthetically, but in a performative and emotive sense.”

Based in London, with offices in Berlin and New York City, Adjaye is one of the world’s leading architects. His ingenious use of materials and unique ability to showcase light coupled with his democratized approach to the architectural process have helped establish his reputation as an architect with an artist’s sensibility and vision. His many worldwide projects include the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO (winner of the 2011 First Prize Public Buildings IX ARCHIP International Architecture Award); The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, CO;

the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway; flood-resistant houses in New Orleans for Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation; and the Stirling Prize-nominated Idea Stores in London, England. Adjaye’s current projects include the design of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American Culture and History (NMAACH) on the National Mall in Washington, DC, set to open in 2015.

Tanzanian-born and of Ghanaian descent, Adjaye has also spent ten years traveling to 53 cities throughout Africa to document the continent within an urban context and address much of the world’s lack of knowledge of the built environment throughout the disparate countries of Africa. The resulting project, “Urban Africa: David Adjaye’s Photographic Survey,” includes over 36,000 pictures, 3,000 of which were displayed at London’s Design Museum before traveling to other locations around the world.

David Adjaye’s belief in working together with artists and other cultural thinkers has led to a number of notable collaborations on both building projects as well as exhibitions. The practice established its early reputation with a series of private houses where the artist was client, and this dialogue continues with recent public buildings, exhibitions and research projects. Adjaye Associates was responsible for: the exhibition design of the all-video SITE Santa Fe Eighth International Biennial Exhibition “the dissolve” (2010); Olafur Eliasson’s “Your black horizon” light installation at the 51st Venice Biennale (2005); and Chris Ofili’s “The Upper Room” exhibited (1999-2002 and 2010), which is now in the permanent collection of Tate Britain.

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Now something to do with China that has nothing to do with Ai Weiwei for a change (unless he happens to be moonlighting as a cat burglar). Back in May, you might recall, thieves stole a number of items from Beijing’s Forbidden City, which turned out to be just the start of a summer of embarrassing incidents for the country as additional heists were pulled off. Reuters is reporting that now the government has issued a mandate requiring all museums to beef up their security or they will be forced to close temporarily until the issues are fixed. If they don’t do enough, then those closures will be permanent. We think it’s safe to assume that there’s some hiring going on right now across China. Here’s a bit:

“People who have been lured by the high profits attained through the theft and smuggling of ancient relics tend to set their targets on various museums,” state news agency Xinhua cited a notice from Ministry of Public Security and State Administration of Cultural Heritage as saying.

“Police and cultural authorities should examine museum security systems and improve training for museum guards. Museums should make emergency response plans and conduct emergency drills every six months to improve their ability to handle thefts.”

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