Archinect - News

Foster + Partners team details post-earthquake recovery plan in southeast Turkey

2024-08-01T18:13:00-04:00

The full details of Foster + Partners’ plan for an urban recovery of the earthquake-damaged Turkish city of Antakya and Hatay province have been made publicly available for the first time since the project was announced last October.

The regeneration plan entails eight separate ‘design principles,’ among them: Build on safe land, Improve circulation, Improve open spaces, Create new districts, Layer neighborhoods, Enhance connectivity at a city and neighborhood scale, and, finally, Build back. Other aspects of the published scheme include the consideration of the regional architecture's traditional building scale, relationships, configurations, facades, and formal language.

Previously on Archinect: Foster + Partners, BIG attached to master plan rebuilding effort in Antakya, Turkey

The UK-based firm says it is working closely with several local NGOs and Turkish civil agencies (including the Turkish Design Council, the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, ...

Foster + Partners replaces MAD on Hollywood office tower design

2024-03-20T18:59:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has been revealed as the architects of a replacement design that will take the place of the previous MAD Architects-produced The Star scheme at 6061 W Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

The newly proposed $1 billion "vertical creative office" is meant as an office for tenants in Hollywood's creative content industries.

Renderings for the replacement design showcase a high-rise structure with 360-degree views provided by its cylindrical form and punctured by a diagonal schism that contains biophilic elements and gathering spaces ribboning around the building's volume in three bands. A rooftop restaurant culminates the design at its uppermost floor.

Rendering courtesy Foster + Partners

The new proposal demarcates considerably from the original $500 million MAD design, which called for 22 stories of vertical gardens to be contained by a glass canopy. The rest of the program includes a ground-level LED video screen, an "arched paseo of restaurants," community gathering sp...

Norman Foster-designed high-tech icon used in James Bond film to receive $6 million refurbishment

2023-08-01T14:59:00-04:00

The Norman Foster-designed Spectrum Building was used as a backdrop for A View to a Kill (1985), the fourteenth installment in the James Bond series. The single-story warehouse, distinguished by its bright yellow steel masts, is a high-tech architecture icon.

Now, it has been reported that global real estate investment company AEW is investing approximately $6 million to refurbish the site. According to a report from Swindon Advertiser, currently, "£4.7 million will be invested by global real estate investment and asset manager AEW in an attempt to refurbish the site which opened in 1983."

Previously on Archinect: Norman Foster-designed warehouse, featured in James Bond film, joins UK heritage list

The project will include a roof refurbishment, repair, and redecoration of the steel frame and cladding. Work on the 260,000-square-foot structure is expected to be completed in May 2024.

In 2013 the structure was given Grade II* listed status by English Heritage for its innovative indus...

Norman Foster skeptical of AI in architecture while championing urban living and cleaner cities

2023-05-12T18:37:00-04:00

In a recent interview with AFP, architect Sir Norman Foster shared his reservations about the role of artificial intelligence in architecture. Foster maintains that AI cannot replicate the physical world, including buildings, streets, and squares.

The Foster + Partners-designed Beijing Airport. Photo: Ma Wenxiao, image © Foster + Partners. From Norman Foster digs in on his stance on airport emissions

Foster has faced criticism from environmentalists due to his inclination towards constructing airports and his views on the environment. He supports urban living and advocates for nuclear power as a solution to climate change and poverty in densely populated cities.

Notwithstanding these viewpoints, Foster's philosophy includes the development of cleaner, sustainable cities. He believes the evolution of our relationship with automobiles will impact the configuration of modern cities. Foster suggests younger generations' preference for ride-sharing and mobility services may lead to a shif...

Norman Foster previews his Centre Pompidou retrospective for the New York Times

2023-05-11T11:47:00-04:00

I’ve responded to an invitation. Nobody could knock on the door of the Pompidou Center and say, “Hey, I had this idea.” This wasn’t my idea. I’m responding to an invitation, and I’m honored on behalf of so many people to accept it. I’m excited about the future. I think the future is more interesting than the past. I leave the past to other people.

The 1999 Pritzker Prize winner also delved into topics as far ranging as his yearslong dispute with environmental activists, representation of women in architecture, engagements in Saudi Arabia, NEOM, so-called "starchitects," and the world to come. The exhibition features some 130 major projects, covering areas like his love for cars, early collaboration with Buckminster Fuller, and more, all honed in on themes of "sustainability and anticipating the future."

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

Curator Frédéric Migayrou breaks down Foster’s six-decade output into seven thematic sections: Nature and Urbanity; Skin and Bones; Vertical City; History and Tradition; Planning and Places; Networks and Mobility; and Future.

The exhibition, titled Norman Foster, is open now and will remain on view until August 7th.

Norman Foster Foundation and Holcim to exhibit essential housing prototype at 2023 Venice Biennale

2023-05-02T11:52:00-04:00

Construction and materials group Holcim has announced a collaboration with the Norman Foster Foundation at the 2023 Venice Biennale to develop a model for essential housing. Titled the Essential Homes Research Project, the model is intended to “provide safety, comfort, and well-being for displaced communities.”

The project is to be unveiled at the Time Space Existence exhibition organized by the European Cultural Center during the biennale, which will include the display of a real-size prototype in the Marinaressa Gardens. The prototype will be supported by an exhibition hosted in the Palazzo Mora, reflecting on the Biennale’s overall theme “The Laboratory of the Future.”

“Natural and manmade disasters create a continuous exodus of people seeking instant shelter,” said Norman Foster in a statement. “Traditionally tents or variations on them are the primary r...

The Ukrainian architect who showed Norman Foster his Kharkiv

2023-04-10T14:05:00-04:00

Kharkiv’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, announced that Foster and his nonprofit, the Norman Foster Foundation, had agreed to work on such a plan in collaboration with the city. Max, who had never imagined he’d hear the words “Kharkiv” and “Foster” in the same sentence, was asked to join Foster’s working group. He was one of only two architects selected who were still physically in Kharkiv—the only people in a position to “show” Kharkiv to Foster.

The New Yorker contributing writer Masha Gessen tells the story of Maxim Rozenfeld, a Kharkiv-native, Ukrainian architect and historian with special expertise in the high-tech-style oeuvre of Norman Foster, who ended up briefing a Foster-led team when the city's mayor Ihor Terekhov announced an ambitious rebuilding plan for the heavily-damaged Kharkiv one year ago in April (new details emerged in December).

New details emerge for Norman Foster's Kharkiv rebuilding plan

2022-12-29T12:27:00-05:00

New details are emerging on Norman Foster’s proposed master plan for the besieged Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Popular German outlet DW has some information on the plan, which Foster and Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov have yet to make publicly available following an initial announcement in April.

For now, the plan reportedly entails at least five “pilot projects” and an interior overhaul of the city’s destroyed House of Regional Administration building that is similar to the firm’s reconstruction of the Reichstag by leaving only its existing facade remaining over a modernized interior.

Among the pilot projects, a new science and technology center will be enacted in addition to an unspecified “architectural landmark” at the city’s center and new 6-kilometer (3.72-mile) pedestrian park at the confluence of the city’s Kharkiv and Nemyshlya rivers. Further “Industry” and “Housing” pilots will involve the adaptive reuse of surviving residential buildings and a coal-fired power plant, provid...

David Adjaye appointed to Britain's esteemed Order of Merit

2022-11-15T11:12:00-05:00

Sir David Adjaye has achieved yet another accolade after being named as one of the six new Order of Merit appointments announced this weekend and selected by Queen Elizabeth II shortly before her death in September at the age of 96.

Adjaye is now also one of five architects on the list, joining Basil Spence, Norman Foster, Giles Gilbert Scott, and Edwin Lutyens. The Order was created during the reign of King Edward VI and is meant to "honor 'exceptional distinction' in areas such as science, medicine, culture and the arts in the UK and Commonwealth realms," according to the BBC.

Previously on Archinect: Sir David Adjaye receives RIBA Gold Medal at illustrious virtual event

Adjaye’s presence in the now-201-member roster helps to diversify the institution that, even with the new appointees, only includes five women and a few people of color. He was joined by news presenter Floella Benjamin, biologists Paul Nurse and Venki Ramakrishnan, Nurse Elizabeth Anionwu, and Canadian historian Ma...

Foster + Partners' 50 Hudson Yards officially opens in New York City

2022-10-25T21:05:00-04:00

Foster + Partners’ 50 Hudson Yards, a 78-story, mixed-use office tower in New York City has officially opened.

The nearly three million-square-foot and LEED Gold-designed structure occupies an entire block and features flexible office space, retail facilities, and public spaces. It also offers restaurants, bike parking, and transport connections, which is in the form of an underground connection to the adjacent subway station. Work on the latest addition to Hudson Yards began in 2016.

“Our project is a response to the site within Hudson Yards, but its geometry also respects the wider context of the New York street grid,” said Foster + Partners founder Norman Foster. “ The innovative elevator strategy and unique space planning provide prime users of the tower with their own lobbies, exclusive access, and separate identities. Column-free floor plates and generous ceiling heights provide high-quality workspaces with maximum flexibility for change in the future. A purpose-built tunnel c...

Norman Foster unveils San Marino Declaration of sustainability principles ahead of COP27

2022-10-04T17:40:00-04:00

Norman Foster is in San Marino this week to present what he says is a new set of sustainable urban design principles to the 83rd meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Committee on Urban Development, Housing, and Land Management.

The so-called San Marino Declaration appears as a sort of guidebook around which architects and urban planners can build cities that are “climate-neutral, safer, more inclusive, and resilient.” In it, a set of eleven interrelated principles are floated for universal adaptation based on past actions and directives taken by the UN Secretary-General that carry broad and direct implications to the built environment and ascending migration of populations into urban centers across the globe.

Previously on Archinect: At COP26, Norman Foster speaks about the primacy of cities in the fight against climate change

Speaking to Dezeen recently, Foster compared the plan to the Hippocratic Oath Western medical professionals typically sign, adding th...

Norman Foster releases manifesto outlining his vision for Kharkiv, Ukraine as a 'city of the future'

2022-04-20T14:07:00-04:00

As the Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine grind on, the leadership of one of the country’s most affected cities is already planning future rebuilding efforts after taking a special meeting with Norman Foster.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov met with the architect Monday to discuss his vision for rehabilitating a city that is now almost completely unrecognizable after two months of brutal shelling.

In the meeting, Terekhov laid out his vision for a reborn city defined by a new “high-tech architecture” and master-planned by Foster to “provide a framework for the creation of Kharkiv as a city of the future.”

The pair were joined by senior Ukrainian economic officials Igor Abramovych and by Olga Demyanenko, academics Ian Goldin of Oxford University and Harvard professor Ed Glaeser, and the Norman Foster Foundation’s Co-Heads of the Design, Architecture and Technology Unit Diego Lopez and Alberto Cendoya. Foster prepared a short manifesto for the meeting, which in part addresses th...

Norman Foster says he still hasn't lost that old, familiar feeling

2022-04-05T12:03:00-04:00

If I enjoy doing what I do, why would I change it? Of course, at any point with any of us, there’s always the other side of the coin […] I get the same buzz from designing buildings, working with people, educational workshops, working with the UN heading their Forum of Mayors, engaging with civic leaders, writing, drawing, sketching. I’m privileged to have many such opportunities […] I think they’re my lifeblood, yes.”

Norman Foster, who will turn 87 this year, was at the Guggenheim Bilbao to talk to The Guardian’s Tim Lewis about his lifelong love of cars and upcoming exhibition there titled “Motion. Autos, Art, Architecture.” Foster told the writer he sees the exhibition as “almost like the requiem for the age of combustion,” adding that, at this point in his career, “I feel as young as the people that I’m working with and engaging with and sharing passions.”

Foster also discussed his reaction to some of the changes in worklife necessitated by the coronavirus, and the ability of his office to get back on its feet following a year of economic downturn.

Earlier on Archinect: Norman Foster on the impact of pandemics on our cities

“We were all surprised by the way in which the technology has worked,” he said. “And the energy and resourcefulness of the team. But I guess it’s also made us acutely aware of the importance of physically coming together. The lessons of history are that an event like that ...

Norman Foster’s Francis Bacon triptych is expected to fetch $47.3 to $74.3 million

2022-02-17T12:56:00-05:00

Bacon’s Triptych 1986–7, which is scheduled to be sold with an estimate of £35 million to £55 million ($47.3 million to $74.3 million) on March 1 in the first of a series of high-stakes 20th- and 21st-century art auctions, is being sold by star architect Norman Foster, according to people familiar with the work.

The painting is one of 28 historical triptychs Bacon completed between 1944 and 1991. Past auctions have commanded prices as high as $84.6 million (£62.1 million) for similar works, including his masterpiece Three Studies of Lucian Freud, which caused a media sensation in 2013 after setting records as the most expensive painting ever sold.

News of the upcoming auction has already been getting discussed in the Archinect Forum...

Foster appears to have purchased the triptych anonymously in 2007 from New York’s Marlborough Gallery. The piece had recently been shopped around privately for values upwards of $100 million, according to Artnet. Next month's auction will constitute the first time it has appeared in a public sale.

Double profits for Foster + Partners amidst a year of economic recovery

2022-01-13T15:13:00-05:00

The architecture practice run by Sir Norman Foster almost doubled its profits as it expanded in the Middle East and gained new business despite pandemic lockdowns. Total revenues fell by £33m to £200m in the year ending 30 April 2021, accounts for Foster + Partners, the practice’s main trading company, show. But profits before tax almost doubled to £36.2m during the year, compared with £19.8m in the previous year.

New projects included a planned luxury tower development in Greece and a new tourist destination on an artificial island in the Red Sea (although notably, the Tulip Tower did come off the books due to environmental concerns).

Foster himself is worth well into the nine-figure range and has recently sold a significant portion of his shares to a Canadian investment firm. The firm reported earnings for the past four years that combined are over £900 million ($1.24 billion) in spite of the considerable forces at play economically during the pandemic. Foster + Partners also reported that a £500,000 ($686,000) government loan taken out for their 2020 furlough was repaid.

Wealth is cemented at the top as starchitects continue to see gains

2021-11-22T14:32:00-05:00

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, a new list from therichest.com has ranked the world’s top ten architects in terms of their total net worth.

Big A architecture remunerates extraordinarily well for some, with the total list’s net worth nearing three-quarters of a billion USD.

Norman Foster took the top spot with an estimated net worth amounting to $250 million. The outspoken 86-year-old has had a windfall of big development contracts in the past few years, which has helped him maintain the position he has held for parts of the last two decades.

Frank Gehry came in a distant second with around $100 million in total worth. Gehry was followed quickly by Moshe Safdie, who also hit the $100 mark, although it was not clear which methodology was used to delineate the two (some publicized estimates have Safdie’s worth significantly higher at around $150 million). Oculus designer Santiago Calatrava was the only other architect to hit the nine-figure plateau. His estimated net ...

At COP26, Norman Foster speaks about the primacy of cities in the fight against climate change

2021-11-04T13:58:00-04:00

Norman Foster’s commentary on urbanism is in the news cycle once again after the architect made an appearance in Glasgow as part of this week’s United Nations COP26 climate summit.

The comments roiled many in the social media universe, who pointed to Foster’s continued insistence on airport design and penchant for high-profile projects in oil economies that for many betray whatever claims the architect might make in regards to his own personal environmentalism.

Foster was participating in a question-and-answer breakfast with U.S. climate envoy John Kerry for an audience of worldwide mayors moderated by Glasgow’s own city council leader Susan Aitken.

Speaking with the former Secretary of State, Foster, who made waves recently after a terse appearance on Bloomberg Television in September in which the architect doubled down on his decision to withdraw from Architects Declare a scant 18 months after its founding, said that Covid has accelerated several already-ascendant trends such a...

Grafton Architects has been awarded the 2021 Stirling Prize

2021-10-14T16:46:00-04:00

Grafton Architects has been named by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) as the winner of this year’s Stirling Prize for the best new building in the UK.

The Dublin-based firm won for its Town House multipurpose academic and arts space for Kingston University London.

Image © Ed Reeve

A thermally-activated concrete design, the development serves as a “progressive new model for the design of higher education buildings.” The combination public forum, theater, library, and dance studio provides an open and democratic space to students at Kingstown, one-half of whom are the first in their families to attend university.

Image © Ed Reeve

“Kingston University Town House is a theater for life — a warehouse of ideas. It seamlessly brings together student and town communities, creating a progressive new model for higher education, well deserving of international acclaim and attention,” Norman Foster said, speaking for the jury.

Image © Ed Reeve

This year’s postponed competition rep...

Foster + Partners sells “significant” shares to Canadian family private investment firm

2021-10-11T10:39:00-04:00

Foster + Partners, the largest architecture firm based in the United Kingdom, has announced a new partnership with a Canadian private family investment firm. The partnership with the Canadian firm, named Hennick & Company, sees the Hennick family now become the largest shareholder of Foster + Partners, followed by Norman Foster and his family.

The financial sum paid for the shares, and the size of the stakes, remains undisclosed according to the UK outlet Building Design, who first reported the story. Going forward, the practice’s existing partners will remain as long-term shareholders, retaining the balance of the equity between the Foster family and Hennick. Norman Foster will continue to serve in his current role as Executive Chairman, while all present partners will remain in their roles. The firm’s existing leadership team will also retain day-to-day operational responsibility.

Faced with new challenges, airport design is reinventing itself

2021-09-07T17:22:00-04:00

Across the country, the average airport terminal is more than 40 years old and further challenged by the growth of air travel. Denver International, for example, opened in 1995 with capacity for 50 million fliers; in 2019, it handled more than 69 million.

Airports have been argued over by various names representing differing views from varied places in the architectural community. Norman Foster recently told Bloomberg he felt the impacts of air travel have to be considered in relation to other primary drivers of climate change.

The movement to make airports more comfortable and user-oriented has dominated the industry as the need to modernize or significantly upgrade antiquated facilities looms larger in coming years. Biophilic designs have proliferated as well.

The COVID-19 pandemic has initiated quite a lot of its own changes within the last year that have accelerated the movement substantially. The New York Times has more on trends in airport building here.

Norman Foster digs in on his stance on airport emissions

2021-09-03T16:26:00-04:00

I would argue that everything has a footprint, and in relative terms, the carbon footprint of air travel is relatively small. That does not mean it shouldn’t be addressed, but I do feel passionately that we have to address the infrastructure of mobility.

Norman Foster's airport projects have drawn in an increasing amount of business for the 54-year-old firm in the last two decades. Foster went as far last year as to withdraw the firm from Architects Declare, the group his firm joined the year prior to promote a broader set of climate change discussions in the industry.

Foster compared the impacts of air travel to the magnitudes larger footprint caused by meat production. The Pritzker-winning architect's full comments can be viewed in the Bloomberg video below.

Norman Foster Foundation presents 'On Archives' masterclass series

2021-08-13T16:59:00-04:00

The Norman Foster Foundation has released a new series of 14 masterclasses, titled “On Archives,” a follow-up of the “On Cities” series released in the Spring.

This edition explores the fundamental aspects related to architectural archives and libraries around the world, with episodes featuring leading experts in the fields of archiving, architecture, art, design, and heritage management. The video series supports the Foundation's educational initiative that aims to promote cross-disciplinary and trans-geographic exchange.

Previously on Archinect: Norman Foster launches 'On Cities' masterclass series

“While archives have, for centuries, been the core of cultural, historic and artistic institutions, these online lessons also acknowledge the relevance of archives for the performance of other disciplines, such as architecture and design, and for the future of society,” reads the Foundation’s announcement.

"On Archives" Masterclass Series, extended trailer. Video: Norman Foster Founda...

Norman Foster launches 'On Cities' masterclass series

2021-04-22T14:25:00-04:00

Titled "On Cities," a new series of twenty masterclasses was released by the Norman Foster Foundation this week. Each half-hour video features a leading expert in the fields of architecture, urbanism, economics, and mobility, aiming to promote cross-disciplinary and trans-geographic exchange.

"While cities undoubtedly offer significant advantages in the realm of education, health care and social services, urbanization is widely regarded as one of the fundamental challenges for public health, social equity and environmental sustainability," states the Foundation's announcement.

'On Cities' Masterclass Series, extended trailer. Video via Norman Foster Foundation on YouTube.

"In many parts of the world, urbanization has made cities more spatially fragmented, less environmentally responsive and more socially divided. To meet these challenges, speakers will touch on key themes such as urban leadership, urban form and equity, urban informality, urban food systems, urban sustainability, ...

Foster + Partners withdraws from Architects Declare over aviation dispute

2020-12-02T13:15:00-05:00

One of the UK’s most famous architects has withdrawn from an environmental coalition in a dispute about the destructive role of aviation in the escalating climate crisis. [...] The decision follows a row over Foster and Partners’ work on airports around the world – seen by critics as incompatible with tackling the climate and ecological emergency.

Airport designs have been key projects in Foster + Partners' portfolio for years, with prominent recent commissions and competition entries in Saudi Arabia, Marseille, Chicago, Mexico City, and Beijing.

Following Foster's decision to withdraw from his initial commitment, Architects Declare issued following statement on its website today:

We are disappointed that Foster + Partners has chosen to withdraw from the declarations and we would welcome a conversation with them on the points raised.

We recognise that addressing the climate and biodiversity emergencies challenges current practice and business models for us all, not least around the expansion of aviation. We believe that what is needed is system change and that can only come about through collective action. Architects Declare is not a ‘protest’ movement but a collaborative support network to innovate positive transformation. Our movement is global. As of today there are 1037 UK practices committed to the declaration and over 6...

Norman Foster on the impact of pandemics on our cities

2020-09-24T13:23:00-04:00

Predicting the future of cities is risky, especially if one heeds the words of the American baseball legend, Yogi Berra, that “the future ain’t what it used to be”. In the period since the start of the pandemic it might seem as if everything is different, but in the long term, I would suggest that rather than changing anything, it has merely hastened and magnified trends that were already apparent before the virus struck.

In his opinion piece for The Guardian, architect Norman Foster ponders how current and past pandemics have influenced and will continue to shape the infrastructure, and subsequently culture, of our cities. Foster briefly touches on a number of trendy topics, including electric vehicles, ride sharing, drone delivery, remote work, and urban farming.

Norman Foster proposes pop-up UK Parliament building inspired by Crystal Palace

2020-08-24T12:29:00-04:00

Architect Norman Foster is reviving a plan for creating expansive temporary facilities to be used by the parliament of the United Kingdom while the Palace of Westminster undergoes significant restoration.

The £300 million proposal calls for a erecting an amorphous, 151-meter-long glass-wrapped temporary structure in the Horse Guards Parade adjacent to the existing houses of parliament. The four story structure, which would include 650 offices as well as detailed replicas of the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and other significant interior spaces, is designed to be taken down and re-used once the renovations to the historic structure have run their course.

Previously on Archinect: UK Parliament renovations uncover 360-year-old hidden passage. View of the UK Houses of Parliament. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons / Maurice.

Inspired by the Crystal Palace, the temporary Parliament would be topped by a cast iron and plate glass panel dome spanning over an interior roof garden stu...

Foster + Partners unveils plans for twin condo towers in Beverly Hills

2020-07-01T17:14:00-04:00

A newly unveiled $2 billion development proposal crafted by Foster + Partners, Gensler, and RIOS for developers Alagem Capital Group aims to bring a pair of verdant, balcony-wrapped towers to Beverly Hills.

The project would be situated behind the Waldorf Astoria and Beverly Hilton Hotel sites and would bound the Los Angeles Country Club. In all, the development could render 303 units in addition to an adjacent hotel containing 42 high-end suites and 37 condominiums. The lower levels of the complex would include a retail podium filled with restaurants and shops, The Los Angeles Times reports.

Gensler is serving as Executive Architect for the development, while RIOS will provide landscape architecture services for. Under the current design, the ground level areas will be designed as lush landscapes and will be, according to reports, largely publicly accessible.

The project is slated to span over Merv Griffin Drive, a public street that bisects the project site, with a "landscaped ...

London to move city hall from Norman Foster-designed tower to Docklands site

2020-06-24T13:02:00-04:00

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced a plan to move London's city hall facilities from their current location within the Norman Foster-designed "glass gonad" building to the Wilkinson Eyre Architects-designed Crystal building in the city's Docklands district.

The Foster building is a privately-owned facility that costs the Greater London Authority, the regional government for London and surrounding boroughs, an estimated £11.1million per year to rent. The building's colloquial name was given to the facilities by former London Mayor Boris Johnson, who is now Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The move comes as the London struggles to pay for essential services, including public transportation and firefighting services, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regarding the move, Khan tells The Huffington Post, “My first priority will always be to protect funding for front-line services, including public transport, the Met Police and the London Fire Brigade,” adding, “Leaving ...

Norman Foster on his unlikely start in architecture

2020-06-22T16:05:00-04:00

“How do you get into a school of architecture?,” I asked. “You need a portfolio of drawings,” I was told. So I started to create drawings and paintings – the architectural ones were copies of perspectives that I took from the plan chests after everyone left the office, and which I returned before they arrived in the morning. Other works, in gouache, were inspired by one of my hero artists, LS Lowry.

For The Guardian's Observer Design magazine, Norman Foster, now 85, recounts the early beginnings of his design career more than six decades ago: from leaving school at 16 through finding his first architecture employment at Manchester firm John E. Beardshaw and Partners to overcoming obstacles to get into architecture school.

"Because I had had left school at 16, I did not have A-levels and therefore could not qualify for a degree course," Foster writes. "However, the university came up with a solution."

Norman Foster pushes government to hold architecture competition for a new House of Lords

2020-01-22T13:51:00-05:00

According to Architect's Journal (AJ), in a letter published in The Times, Norman Foster – writing as Lord Foster and president of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust – said the ‘power of architecture’ should be used ‘to express our political and economic ambitions’. It comes in response to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's desire to move the upper chamber of parliament out of London, reports AJ.

In his letter, Foster wrote: "If we are to build a new House of Lords, we must set our sights every bit as high and produce work that represents the very best that our age can offer. An architectural competition, backed by a clear brief, would be the place to start."

Archinect - News

Foster + Partners team details post-earthquake recovery plan in southeast Turkey

Foster + Partners replaces MAD on Hollywood office tower design

Norman Foster-designed high-tech icon used in James Bond film to receive $6 million refurbishment

Norman Foster skeptical of AI in architecture while championing urban living and cleaner cities

Norman Foster previews his Centre Pompidou retrospective for the New York Times

Norman Foster Foundation and Holcim to exhibit essential housing prototype at 2023 Venice Biennale

The Ukrainian architect who showed Norman Foster his Kharkiv

New details emerge for Norman Foster's Kharkiv rebuilding plan

David Adjaye appointed to Britain's esteemed Order of Merit

Foster + Partners' 50 Hudson Yards officially opens in New York City

Norman Foster unveils San Marino Declaration of sustainability principles ahead of COP27

Norman Foster releases manifesto outlining his vision for Kharkiv, Ukraine as a 'city of the future'

Norman Foster says he still hasn't lost that old, familiar feeling

Norman Foster’s Francis Bacon triptych is expected to fetch $47.3 to $74.3 million

Double profits for Foster + Partners amidst a year of economic recovery

Wealth is cemented at the top as starchitects continue to see gains

At COP26, Norman Foster speaks about the primacy of cities in the fight against climate change

Grafton Architects has been awarded the 2021 Stirling Prize

Foster + Partners sells “significant” shares to Canadian family private investment firm

Faced with new challenges, airport design is reinventing itself

Norman Foster digs in on his stance on airport emissions

Norman Foster Foundation presents 'On Archives' masterclass series

Norman Foster launches 'On Cities' masterclass series

Foster + Partners withdraws from Architects Declare over aviation dispute

Norman Foster on the impact of pandemics on our cities

​Norman Foster proposes pop-up UK Parliament building inspired by Crystal Palace

Foster + Partners unveils plans for twin condo towers in Beverly Hills

London to move city hall from Norman Foster-designed tower to Docklands site

Norman Foster on his unlikely start in architecture

Norman Foster pushes government to hold architecture competition for a new House of Lords

Norman Foster proposes pop-up UK Parliament building inspired by Crystal Palace