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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... View full entry
One of the UK’s most famous architects has withdrawn from an environmental coalition in a dispute about the destructive role of aviation in the escalating climate crisis.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.
— The Guardian
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... View full entry
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.
— The Guardian
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
“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. — The Guardian
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
London-based architecture practice Foster + Partners recently announced its goal to "outline a holistic sustainable approach" towards its projects as a way to measure "embodied and operational carbon in each project." Aiming to use their international stature and design prowess to... View full entry
With nearly 500 images – many previously unpublished – the book highlights the contribution that the studio has made to a range of design challenges. Arranged in five decade-long chapters, spanning from 1967 to 2017, it is a chronological logbook of over 345 built works, with drawings of unbuilt works appearing at the end of each decade. — Foster + Partners
Portfolio, the name of the publication, is a complete account of the first fifty years of the practice. The book comes in at a robust 540 pages, includes a foreword by Norman Foster in addition to essays from the architectural critic Peter Buchanan. View full entry
Apple’s famous Fifth Avenue flagship reopens Friday after more than two years of renovations. The glass cube has returned as an entrance to the store, set above the newly updated and locust tree-lined public plaza. As 6sqft previously reported, it cost $2 million to remove the cube in 2017 during the Midtown Manhattan store’s expansion. — 6sqft
The cube, originally built in 2006, is designed by Foster + Partners. View full entry
Just like manufacturing, architecture is dependent on international trade. British architects export their services, bringing back work and revenues, while a net influx of foreign architects fills offices: A fifth of the profession nationwide is foreign, and in London, a third, according to British architect Piers Taylor. Norman Foster, who heads Foster + Partners, more than 1,000 architects strong, said, “My practice absolutely depends on talent, and much of that talent is foreign.” — Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times details responses of leading British architects, including David Chipperfield, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, in the light of the looming March 29 deadline for the UK to officially leave the EU—if this Brexit happens without further delay. "Chipperfield has emerged as... View full entry
"[Hudson Yards] is, at heart, a supersized suburban-style office park, with a shopping mall and a quasi-gated condo community targeted at the 0.1 percent. — The New York Times
Ahead of the opening of the long anticipated Hudson Yards complex in New York City, New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman spared little time in sharing his disgust with its turn out. Rendering of the Vessel, by Thomas HeatherwickKimmelman picks the complex apart building by... View full entry
The Norton, which closed last July to finish three years of renovations, will re-open to the public on Feb. 9 with eight new exhibitions and a $100 million face-lift, adding 12,000 square feet of gallery space, along with new classrooms, a restaurant, a sculpture garden and a 210-seat auditorium. — South Florida Sun Sentinel
Almost exactly two years after its ceremonial groundbreaking, the Norman Foster-designed Norton Museum of Art expansion has been completed and will open its doors to the public this Saturday, February 9. Image courtesy of Foster + PartnersThe expansion plan preserved the institution's original... View full entry
Construction on Norman Foster’s Red Hoek Point, a 7.7-acre commercial campus at a former sugar factory, started in October and this week new renderings were released that provide the first look at the nearly four acres of green roof space, including walking and jogging paths and landscaping to mitigate stormwater runoff. — 6sqft
via Visualhouse New York View full entry
