Hasta La Ideas

N stands for late Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in our fourteenth festive A-Zdvent calendar. This image by photographer Pedro Kok depicts the entrance to the Ibirapuera Auditorium in Sao Paulo, completed in 2005, while the architect’s most famous projects include the National Congress of Brazil and the Cathedral of Brasília.

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Afin de rendre hommage au défunt architecte brésilien Oscar Niemeyer, l’artiste Edouardo Kobra a réalisé cette superbe peinture murale de 52 mètres de haut sur 16 de large. Située à Sao Paulo sur Paulista Avenue, cette création colorée est un magnifique clin d’oeil à ce grand monsieur de l’architecture.

News: architect Norman Foster has paid tribute to Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who passed away yesterday aged 104.

“He was an inspiration to me – and to a generation of architects,” says the Foster + Partners chairman and founder. “As a student in the early 1960s, I looked to Niemeyer’s work for stimulation; poring over the drawings of each new project. Fifty years later his work still has the power to startle us.”

Foster refers to the architect as a “hero” and describes his delight at having the chance to meet him last year. “It seems absurd to describe a 104 year old as youthful, but his energy and creativity were an inspiration. I was touched by his warmth and his great passion for life and for scientific discovery,” he says.

Niemeyer is best known for his buildings in Brazil, including the Roman Catholic Cathedral that earned him the 1988 Pritzker Architecture Prize. “One cannot contemplate Brasilia’s crown-like cathedral without being thrilled both by its formal dynamism and its structural economy, which combine to engender a sense almost of weightlessness from within, as the enclosure appears to dissolve entirely into glass,” adds Foster.

He concludes: “He leaves us with a source of delight and inspiration for many generations to come.”

See all our stories about Oscar Niemeyer, including images of some of his most famous projects that come to life when seen through 3D glasses.

Photography is courtesy of Abitare.

Here’s the full statement from Norman Foster:

I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Oscar Niemeyer. He was an inspiration to me – and to a generation of architects. Few people get to meet their heroes and I am grateful to have had the chance to spend time with him in Rio last year.

For architects schooled in the mainstream Modern Movement, he stood accepted wisdom on its head. Inverting the familiar dictum that ‘form follows function’, Niemeyer demonstrated instead that, ‘When a form creates beauty it becomes functional and therefore fundamental in architecture’.

It is said that when the pioneering Russian cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin visited Brasilia he likened the experience to landing on a different planet. Many people seeing Niemeyer’s city for the first time must have felt the same way. It was daring, sculptural, colourful and free – and like nothing else that had gone before. Few architects in recent history have been able to summon such a vibrant vocabulary and structure it into such a brilliantly communicative and seductive tectonic language.

One cannot contemplate Brasilia’s crown-like cathedral, for example, without being thrilled both by its formal dynamism and its structural economy, which combine to engender a sense almost of weightlessness from within, as the enclosure appears to dissolve entirely into glass. And what architect can resist trying to work out how the tapering, bone-like concrete columns of the Alvorada Palace are able to touch the ground so lightly. Brasilia is not simply designed, it is choreographed; each of its fluidly-composed pieces seems to stand, like a dancer, on its points frozen in a moment of absolute balance. But what I most enjoy in his work is that even the individual building is very much about the public promenade, the public dimension.

As a student in the early 1960s, I looked to Niemeyer’s work for stimulation; poring over the drawings of each new project. Fifty years later his work still has the power to startle us. His contemporary Art Museum at Niteroi is exemplary in this regard. Standing on its rocky promontory like some exotic plant form, it shatters convention by juxtaposing art with a panoramic view of Rio harbour. It is as if – in his mind – he had dashed the conventional gallery box on the rocks below, and challenged us to view art and nature as equals. I have walked the Museum’s ramps. They are almost like a dance in space, inviting you to see the building from many different viewpoints before you actually enter. I found it absolutely magic.

During our meeting last year, we spoke at length about his work – and he offered some valuable lessons for my own. It seems absurd to describe a 104 year old as youthful, but his energy and creativity were an inspiration. I was touched by his warmth and his great passion for life and for scientific discovery – he wanted to know about the cosmos and the world in which we live. In his words: “We are on board a fantastic ship!”

He told me that architecture is important, but that life is more important. And yet in the end his architecture is his ultimate legacy. Like the man himself, it is eternally youthful – he leaves us with a source of delight and inspiration for many generations to come.

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Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer has created a collection of sneakers and slip-ons for American shoe company Converse, featuring a handwritten poem celebrating the “sensual curve” for which his architecture is famous (+ slideshow).

Above: Chuck Taylor All Star Chukka Boot

The 104-year-old modernist architect, whose iconic buildings include the spiky Cathedral of Brasilia, reworked five classic styles for Converse, which also reached its 104th birthday this year.

Above: Chuck Taylor All Star Hi

Each design is inspired by a famous poem by Niemeyer: “It is not the right angle that attracts me, nor the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. What attracts me is the free and sensual curve — the curve that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuous course of its rivers, in the body of the beloved woman.”

Above: Chuck Taylor All Star Oxford

The poem, written in Niemeyer’s handwriting, adorns the canvas upper of the Chuck Taylor All Star Hi sneaker, which also has a red tongue that references the entrance of his Ibirapuera Auditorium in São Paulo.

Above: Jack Purcell

The black edging of the Chuck Taylor All Star Chukka Boot is inspired by a monument against torture designed by Niemeyer, while the lining includes an architectural illustration referencing the Landless Worker’s Movement in Brazil.

Above: Skid Grip Oxford

A red curve outlines the edge of the Chuck Taylor All Star Oxford, while the unusual rounded toe of the Jack Purcell sneaker also ties in with Niemeyer’s curved architecture.

The Skid Grip Oxford slip-on has a red curve on its upper and an extract from the poem wrapped around the right toe.

Earlier this year we featured a series of anaglyphic 3D photographs of Niemeyer’s most iconic buildings, while in 2011 we reported on the Centro Niemeyer arts centre in the Spanish city of Avilés, which was open for just six months before closing down amid claims of financial irregularities.

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See all our stories about Oscar Niemeyer »

Here’s more information from Converse:

Converse Inc. announces the launch of the Converse x Oscar Niemeyer collection. Created inspiring by Oscar Niemeyer’s artwork, world-renowned architect, visionary and creative ambassador, the limited edition collection features five Converse silhouettes, each interpreted through Niemeyer’s outspoken architectural vision.

Born out of a shared passion for creative expression, the new footwear collection launches in Brazil on October 23, 2012 as part of a collaborative effort between Converse and the Oscar Niemeyer Foundation. Inspired by Niemeyer’s motto “It is not the right angle that attracts me…”, the exclusive range celebrates the Brazilian architect’s non-linear design ethos that is present in all of his works.

“Converse footwear includes some of the most iconic, original and modern designs in history,” says Penny Ericson, Vice President, Converse Jack Purcell and Premium. “As one of the great artistic visionaries of our time, Oscar Niemeyer’s work represents those same qualities and we’re excited to help bring that to life with this new collection.”

Born in 1907, Niemeyer’s career spans over eight decades, having established himself as one of Modernism’s greatest pioneers. Through his contemporary use of concrete and bold approach to design, Niemeyer introduced a new way to build ‘curved’ architecture, which has since become his signature, recognised throughout the world. Niemeyer’s bold design approach and outspoken voice revolutionized the way the world looks at architecture and design.

About the Collection

The Converse x Oscar Niemeyer collection features five new iterations of Converse silhouettes, each with a nod to Niemeyer’s legendary curve and his creative, rebellious point of view:

The collection includes a Chuck Taylor All Star Hi sneaker with an all-over canvas print featuring the architect’s famous handwritten poem about curves. Featured in a bold red, the tongue creates an unmistakable reference to the dramatic entrance of São Paulo’s Ibirapuera Auditorium.

The Chuck Taylor All Star Oxford model continues the use of the red curve, this time outlining the edge of the upper, creating a bold contrast to the sneaker’s white canvas. Natural leather accents on the toe bumper, tongue and midsole complete the look of this casual sneaker.

The collection also includes a Chuck Taylor All Star Chukka Boot rendered in a rich, natural suede, was inspired by the monument “Torture Never More”, designed by Niemeyer in 1986. The lining in leather features the architectural illustration referencing the social movement “Landless,” further reinforcing Niemeyer’s beliefs.

A Converse Skid Grip Oxford slip-on features the signature curve as a red outline of the upper and an additional reference to the poem of Curves on the right shoe’s toe. Red stitching and natural colored leather patches on the heel give the overall design a textured look and feel.

Rounding out the collection, a stylish Jack Purcell sneaker features a red and white lace option and the signature Jack “smile” as a playful representation of Niemeyer’s curve.

The Converse x Oscar Niemeyer collection will launch at exclusive retailers across Brazil on October 23. The sneaker range will retail for R$170 – R$270 (85 – 135 USD) and is available in unisex sizing 3.5 – 11.5.

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for Converse appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Wire: an arts centre by architect Oscar Niemeyer in the Spanish city of Avilés is to close, having been open to the public for just six months. The regional government claims there are irregularities in The Niemeyer Centre‘s accounts and has forced it to close for at least the next two months, sparking protests from local residents and business owners – The Guardian