Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank

The Lord Foster of Thames Bank
Personal information
Nationality	British
Born	1 June 1935 (1935-06-01) (age 75) Stockport, Cheshire, England
Work
Practice	Foster + Partners
Buildings	30 St Mary Axe, London Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters, Ipswich Wembley Stadium
Projects	American Air Museum at the Imperial War Museum Duxford
Awards	Stirling Prize, Pritzker Architecture Prize, Minerva Medal, Prince of Asturias Award

Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM (born 1 June 1935) is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice. He is Britain's most prolific builder of landmark office buildings.^[1] In 2009 Foster was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award in the Arts category.

Biography

Foster was born in Reddish, Stockport, England,^[2] to a working-class family. Leaving school at 16, he worked in the Manchester City Treasurer's office before joining National Service in the Royal Air Force. After he was discharged, in 1956 Foster attended the University of Manchester's School of Architecture and City Planning (graduating in 1961). He took an interest in the works of Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer. He won the Henry Fellowship to the Yale School of Architecture, where he met future business partner Richard Rogers and earned his Master's degree. He then traveled in America for a year, returning to the UK in 1963 where he set up an architectural practice as Team 4 with Rogers and the sisters Georgie and Wendy Cheesman. Georgie (later Wolton) was the only one of the team that had passed her RIBA exams allowing them to set up in practice on their own. Team 4 quickly earned a reputation for high-tech industrial design.

Foster and Partners

After Team 4 went their separate ways, in 1967 Foster and Wendy Cheesman founded Foster Associates, which later became Foster and Partners. 1968 saw the beginning of a long period of collaboration with American architect Richard Buckminster Fuller, which continued until Fuller's death in 1983, on several projects that became catalysts in the development of an environmentally sensitive approach to design - including the Samuel Beckett Theatre project.

The Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters in Ipswich was one of Foster's earliest commissions after founding Foster Associates.

Foster + Partners' breakthrough building in the UK was the Willis Faber & Dumas headquarters in Ipswich, from 1974. The client was a family firm insurance company which wanted to restore a sense of community to the workplace. Foster created open-plan office floors long before open-plan became the norm. In a town not over-endowed with public facilities, the roof gardens, 25m swimming pool and gymnasium greatly enhance the quality of life of the company's 1200 employees. The building is wrapped in a full-height glass facade which moulds itself to the medieval street plan and contributes real drama, subtly shifting from opaque, reflective black to a glowing backlit transparency as the sun sets. The building is now Grade One listed.

Present day

View of 30 St Mary Axe. The building serves as the London headquarters for Swiss Re and is informally known as 'The Gherkin'.

Today, Foster + Partners works with its engineering collaborators to integrate complex computer systems with the most basic physical laws, such as convection. The approach creates intelligent, efficient structures like the Swiss Re London headquarters at 30 St Mary Axe, nicknamed "The Gherkin", whose complex facade lets in air for passive cooling and then vents it as it warms and rises.

Foster's earlier designs reflected a sophisticated, machine-influenced high-tech vision. His style has since evolved into a more sublime, sharp-edged modernity.

In January 2007, The Sunday Times reported that Foster had called in Catalyst, a corporate finance house, to find buyers for Foster + Partners. Foster does not intend to retire, but sell his 80-90% holding in the company valued at £300M to £500M.^[3]Example.jpg

In 2007, he works with Philip Starck and Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group for the Virgin Galactic plans. ^[4]

Foster currently sits on the Board of Trustees at architectural charity Article 25 who design, construct and manage innovative, safe, sustainable buildings in some of the most inhospitable and unstable regions of the world. He has also been on the Board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation.

Recognition

Foster was knighted in 1990 and appointed to the Order of Merit in 1997. In 1999, he was created a life peer, as Baron Foster of Thames Bank, of Reddish in the County of Greater Manchester.^[5] As a resident of Switzerland, in 2010 he stepped down from his seat in the House of Lords in order to maintain his non-domiciled status, and so be able to avoid paying UK residents' taxes on income earned abroad.^[6][7]

He is the second British architect to win the Stirling Prize twice: the first for the American Air Museum at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in 1998, and the second for 30 St Mary Axe in 2004. In consideration of his whole portfolio, Foster was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1999. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers and winner of the Minerva Medal, the Society's highest award. Foster is a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council.^[8]

In Germany, Lord Foster received the Order Pour le Mérite; in Malaysia he was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, for the University of Technology Petronas.^[9][10] and in 2008 he was granted an honorary degree from the Dundee School of Architecture at the University of Dundee. In 2009 he received the Prince of Asturias Award in the category Arts.

Personal life

Foster married business partner Wendy Cheesman. She died in 1989, leaving him with four sons.

He was divorced from Sabiha Rumani Malik in 1998 and is currently married to Elena Ochoa, Lady Foster of Thames Bank.

A qualified pilot, Foster flies his own private jet and helicopter between his home above the London offices of Foster + Partners, as well to his homes in France and Switzerland.^[3] In 2007, Foster bought a Swiss 1720s chateau from the German industrialist Charles Grohe, which became his home from late 2008.^[11]

Selected projects

Foster has established an extremely prolific career in the span of four decades. The following are some of his major constructions:

Proposed or under construction

Torre Caja Madrid, in Madrid, (Spain).

High-speed station in Florence, Italy

.

• Florence TAV Station, Florence, Italy (2003–2010)
• Palmer Tompkinson Building, Longslade 2012
• South Beach, Singapore, Singapore, 2012
• APIIC Tower, Hyderabad, India (2007–2020)
• Black Sea Gardens, Byala, Bulgaria (2008)
• Tower, Cork, Republic of Ireland, (2008–2011)
• Culture and Leisure Centre, Ciudad del Motor de Aragón[1], Alcañiz, Spain (2007) (competition won)
• Tivoli Hotel, Copenhagen, Denmark (2010) (competition won)
• Museum of Aviation, Getafe, Spain (currently in design phase)
• 200 Greenwich Street, Tower 2 of the planned reconstruction of the World Trade Center in New York City, United States (currently in design phase)
• Reconstruction of New Holland Island, Saint Petersburg, Russia (ongoing)
• Russia Tower, Moscow, Russia (cancelled)
• U2 Tower, Dublin, Ireland (2008–2011) (competition won)
• Spinningfield Square, Manchester, UK (2005–2010)
• Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, Dallas, United States (2009)
• The Bow, Calgary, Canada (2007–2011)
• Jameson House, Vancouver, Canada
• The Troika [2], Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2004–2009)
• Queen's Dock, Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, Scotland (2004–2007)
• Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Middlesex Guildhall, London, United Kingdom (2009)
• Khan Shatyry in Astana, Kazakhstan.
• Masdar City, Abu Dhabi (2007–2023)
• New Yale School of Management campus, New Haven, CT (announced 4 September 2007)
• Camp Nou stadium, Barcelona, Spain (announced 18 September 2007)^[12]
• Crystal Island, Moscow, Russia^[13][14]
• Zagreb Airport, Zagreb, Croatia^[15]
• Hermitage Plaza, Paris (La Défense), France (2010–2014)
• Dubai Towers, Melbourne (TBD)
• Future Apple Campus in Cupertino, California.^[16]

Completed

Reichstag dome at night

• 1970–1971, IBM Pilot Head Office, Cosham, Portsmouth, UK
• 1971–1975, Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters, Ipswich, UK
• 1974–1978, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
• 1983, Renault Distribution Centre, Swindon, United Kingdom
• 1979–1986, HSBC Main Building, Hong Kong
• 1981-1991, Terminal building at London Stansted Airport, UK
• 1992, Torre de Collserola, Barcelona, Spain
• 1984-1993, Carré d'Art, Nîmes, France
• 1993, Kings Norton Library, Cranfield University, UK
• 1993, Lycée Albert Camus, Fréjus, France
• 1994, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska
• 1988–1995, Metro of Bilbao, Spain
• 1995, Faculty of Law, Cambridge
• 1995–1997, The Clyde Auditorium, part of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow, Scotland
• 1996, National Sea Life Centre, Birmingham. UK
• 1991–1997, Commerzbank Tower, Frankfurt, Germany
• 1992–1998, Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong
• 1993–1998, Valencia Congress Centre, Valencia, Spain
• 1999, Redevelopment of the Great Court of the British Museum, London, United Kingdom
• 1999, Department of Economics, Manor Road Building, University of Oxford, UK
• 1999, Reichstag restoration, Berlin, Germany
• 2000, Greater London Authority Building (London City Hall), London, United Kingdom
• 1996–2000, Millennium Bridge, London, United Kingdom
• 2000, Center for Clinical Science Research, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
• 2001, Expo MRT Station, Singapore
• 2001, Al Faisaliyah Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• 2001, La Poterie metro station, Rennes, France
• 2001, J Sainsbury headquarters, Holborn Circus, London
• 1999–2001, Lionel Robbins Building renovation, British Library of Political and Economic Science, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom
• 2002, 8 Canada Square (HSBC Group Head Office), London
• 1997–2003, Metropolitan Building in Warsaw
• 2003, Clark Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
• 2003, Universiti Teknologi Petronas main campus, Malaysia
• 1997-2004, 30 St Mary Axe, Swiss Re London headquarters, London, United Kingdom
• 2004, The Sage Gateshead, Gateshead, UK
• 2004, McLaren Technology Centre, Woking, United Kingdom
• 2004, Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London
• 2004, The Millau Viaduct, near Millau, France
• 2005, Supreme Court Building, Singapore
• 2005, Western Årsta Bridge, Stockholm
• 2005, 40 luxury apartments, St. Moritz, Switzerland
• 2005, National Police Memorial, The Mall, London, United Kingdom
• 2005, The Philological Library at the Free University of Berlin, Germany
• 2005, Deutsche Bank Place, Sydney, Australia (the first Sir Norman Foster building in the Southern Hemisphere)
• 2002-2006, Dresden Hauptbahnhof reconstruction, Dresden, Germany
• 2006, Hearst Tower,^[17] New York City, United States
• 2006, The Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building^[18] at the University of Toronto, Canada
• 2006, Palace of Peace and Reconciliation,^[19] Astana, Kazakhstan
• 2002-2007, Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom
• 2004-2007, The Willis Building, City of London, United Kingdom
• 2005–2007, Thomas Deacon Academy
• 2004–2007, Kogod Courtyard, Center for American Art and Portraiture at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC^[20]
• 2007, International Terminal, Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing, China
• 2006–2008, Lumiere residences, Regent Place, Sydney, Australia
• 2006–2008, John Spoor Broome Library, California State University Channel Islands.
• 2007–2008, New Elephant House, Copenhagen Zoo, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 2004-2008, Torre Caja Madrid, Madrid, Spain
• 2010, Art of the Americas Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, US

Some buildings by Norman Foster

The restored Reichstag in Berlin, housing the German parliament. The dome is part of Foster's redesign.  The Hearst Tower in New York City.  The Expo MRT Station, part of the Mass Rapid Transit system in Singapore.  Dresden Hauptbahnhof roof and cupola  Metropolitan Building in Warsaw

Non-architectural projects

Foster's other design work has included the Nomos desk system for Italian manufacturer Tecno,^[21] and the motor yacht Izanami (later Ronin) for Lürssen Yachts.^[22]

See also

• Sudjic, Deyan, Norman Foster: A Life in Architecture, London, Weidenfeld, 2010. ISBN 978-0-29785-868-3
• Thin-shell structure
• Peter Rice

References

External links

• Foster and Partners
• Bio at the Pritzker Prize
• Lord Norman Robert Foster information at Structurae
• Interview with Norman Foster(video)
• Foster's projects on the map, Gauardian gallery of 16 projects
• Building "The Gherkin" (film)
• A (video) tour of the Clark Center
• Norman Foster's building Valencia Conference Centre
• Foster and Partners Projects in the Middle East
• TED Talks: Norman Foster's green agenda at TED in 2007
• Foster chosen for iconic redevelopment Mikhail Bode, Russia Beyond the Headlines 18 December 2007