Respect for the environment and technology, craftsmanship and architecture come together in the shoe designed by Kengo Kuma for Asics. The architect of the National Stadium, which will host the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, compares it to the design of mobile architecture that follows a foot’s movements. Everything about the Metaride™ AMU is conceived for long-distance running: it features an upper constructed of a white performance knit layered with interwoven strips. The crisscrossing pattern was inspired by the traditional Japanese bamboo crafting technique known as Yatara Ami. The Flytefoam™ midsole, a shock-absorbing nanofibre, was left natural to evoke the wood that recurs in many of his designs. “I’m for the idea of a future city that shifts from motorisation to walking, where shoes are asked to do more and more things”.