Niemeyer’s last work

   
Legendary Modernist Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho passed away three days ago, just 10 days before his 105th birthday. He was reportedly still working from his hospital bed last month. Vera Lucia Niemeyer, Niemeyer’s wife, stated: “He has several projects and wants to know about the progress of each.” Niemeyer himself was quoted as saying that hospitalization was a “very lonely thing.” “I needed to keep busy, keep in touch with friends, maintain my rhythm of life,” the admirable man said.

Last month, I saw the Oscar Niemeyer collection for Converse, who also turned 104 this year. Compared to the horrible and obviously unwearable designer shoes in the past few years, these simple sneakers felt like a fresh breeze. The design celebrates Niemeyer’s “free and sensual curve” – “the curves that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuous course of its rivers, in the body of the beloved woman.”

I don’t know how much Niemeyer himself was involved in the creation of this collection, but it’s arguably the last Niemeyer-related design product. I’d better place my order before they are all sold out.