“We are grateful to each of the firms for the thoughtfulness and creativity they demonstrated throughout the process. There is no doubt that each group was fully capable of helping us realize our vision of a 425 Park Avenue tower that redefines the modern office environment while also respecting and enhancing the timeless allure of the Plaza district.” — New York Observer

"You have to accept that 50 years have gone by, but the changes should be done by the architect who was in charge. If this architect is no longer able, this is another thing. But the last time I saw Garatti, he was thinking clearly. So there's no reason to put him aside. I don't think it's ethical." — npr

Reacting to Tatzu Nishi’s concept for Discovering Columbus, Donna Sink exclaimed "Wow, I love the interior environments he makes for these installations! The existing piece is so out-of-place." The conceptual piece will consist a living room six stories up in the air wrapped around the historic statue of Christopher Columbus found in Columbus Circle, NYC.

The developer David W. Levinson could have set for himself the simple task of commissioning a better-designed tower for 425 Park Avenue than the one that’s been there since 1957.

But that would have been a very low bar.

He has engaged four of the world’s leading architects to compete for the job: Norman Foster of Foster & Partners, Zaha Hadid of Zaha Hadid Architects, Rem Koolhaas of OMA, and Richard Rogers of Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners. — cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com

People love the New York Public Library, and yet there’s a general agreement that it cannot survive in its current state. [...] While strong points have been made on all sides of the debate over the NYPL's future as a center of research, a real conversation about its future as an architectural treasure is just now emerging — and thankfully so, for the fate of the institution is also the fate of one of New York's most iconic landmarks. — artinfo.com

Lord Norman and Lady Elena Foster of Thames Bank in Great Britain purchased the 28-acre “gentleman’s farm” in West Tisbury for a whopping $22 million last month, The Vineyard Gazette reports. According to the broker who handled the sale, the new owners do not intend to rent the property to the first family — or anyone else. — news.bostonherald.com

The airport is the result of a frenetic Chinese building boom that has produced numerous architectural marvels, though some of the iconic new projects have been hit by quality and safety problems. — msnbc.msn.com

On Wednesday Lord Foster announced a plan so big that even Burnham would have been impressed. The Thames Hub, a £50bn project devised by architects Foster and Partners, planners and builders Halcrow and Volterra, a consultancy group of British economists, aims to revolutionise Britain's often creaking and largely inadequate national transport and energy infrastructure. — guardian.co.uk

He was the ultimate perfectionist and demanded of himself as he demanded of others. We are better as individuals and certainly wiser as architects through the experience of the last two years and more of working for him. His participation was so intense and creative that our memory will be that of working with one of the truly great designers and mentors. — Norman Foster

Foster + Partners just announced they will be designing the new Kuwait International Airport - and they're aiming to make it the world's first LEED gold certified passenger terminal! The stunning design is sure to be an eye-catcher from both the ground and the sky, and it will raise the environmental bar for airports everywhere with a smart set of green features that will reduce the building's energy use and keep it cool in one of the hottest places on earth. — Inhabitat

MGM Resorts International on Monday said it wants to destroy its Harmon building — an unfinished condo-and-hotel tower riddled with construction engineering problems. Designed by famed architect Norman Foster, the Harmon is part of the Las Vegas Strip’s $9 billion CityCenter project... — blogs.wsj.com

As the architect of such curvaceous London landmarks as "the Gherkin" and the City Hall building described as a "glass testicle", it is something of a Damascene conversion, but Ken Shuttleworth has called time on strangely shaped edifices. — telegraph.co.uk

Norman Foster has been presented with the 2011 Save the Children Award, given by Save the Children Spain, at a ceremony in Madrid. The high profile awards are given annually to outstanding individuals whose work helps to build a better world for children. Lord Foster has been recognised for his longstanding relationship with the charity and his humanitarian work. — fosterandpartners.com

[Apple] has staff scattered in rented buildings throughout the city. The plan for the future campus puts 12,000 to 13,000 employees inside a single four-story oval building. Jobs made a convincing case for what he calls "a shot at building the best office building in the world." By moving parking underground, 80% of the 150-acre property will be landscaped. Apple has hired the lead arborist from Stanford to fill it with 6,000 trees, and the company will build its own energy center power source. — mashable.com

"As a designer I know that everything we've done -- everything I've done -- is to try to transform that experience to bring it back to what it was in the golden age of flight," says Foster. "To make it something that is a celebration, to make it a friendly, uplifting experience and in that sense to go back in time." — CNN.com