SIR NORMAN FOSTER

Architect
“HI TECH”
Planner

“EvErything inspirEs mE; somEtimEs i think i sEE things

othErs don't.”
 EARLY LIFE
• Norman Foster was born in Manchester, England in 1935 to
Robert Foster and Lilian Smith
• Foster's parents were diligent, hard workers – so diligent that
Foster, as an only child, felt their heavy workload restricted his
relationship with them and he was often looked after by
neighbors or other family members.
• He went to private school and grammar school but left early
to earn a living.
• After leaving school he worked for two years in the city
treasurer’s office, studied commercial law.
• He was fascinated with engineering and the process of designing.
He says that caused him to pursue a career designing buildings.
• He entered Manchester University School of Architecture
and City Planning when he was 21 (1956) and graduated in 1961.
• Later he got a fellowship at Yale School of Architecture, and
completed his masters under Richard Rogers, also his future
business partner.
• Foster was not eligible for maintenance grant so took up a
number of part-time jobs to fund his studies, becoming an ice-
cream salesman, night-club bouncer and working night shifts at a
bakery to make crumpets. He combined these with self-tuition
via visits to the local library
• In 1953 he served the Royal Air Force, driven by his passion for
Aircrafts
• In 1963 he set up practice in United Kingdom, under the name
of Team 4,which later became Foster+ Partners.
• He is one of the most High Tech architects of present time.
• Foster Associates (now known as Foster and Partners) was
founded in 1967 and now has offices in London, Berlin, and
Singapore, with over 500 employees worldwide.
• Foster and Partners has received over 190 awards and has won
over 50 national and international competitions.
• In 1999 he was awarded the 21st Pritzker Architecture Prize
Laureate.

• Originally they concentrated on industrial buildings.

• Foster and Partners' breakthrough building in the UK was
the Willis Faber & Dumas headquarters in Ipswich, of 1974. The
client was a family run 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.
 PHILOSOPHY
“the best architecture comes from a
synthesis of all the
elements that separately comprise a
building…” - Foster

•The structure that holds it up;

•The services that allow it to work;
• The ecology of the building –
-Naturally ventilated, whether you can open the windows,
the quality of light;
•The materials used, their mass or their lightness;
•The character of the spaces;
•The relationship of the buildings to the skyline or streetscape;
•The way in which the building signals its presence in the city or the
countryside.
DESIGN ELEMENTS…
•Sir Norman Foster’s buildings have dynamic
appearance and yet very environmentally aware.
•Designs are environmentally friendly.
His design process includes ways to reduce
elements that are harmful to the environment
such as carbon dioxide emissions,
greenhouse gases and fuel consumption.
High-tech:
using high-tech equipment and
pushing the edge of structural engineering, he
is able to push the edge of architectural
designing. High-tech buildings are more
flexible, and thus more distinctive.
A high-tech building, is also energy efficient

• Each detail is carefully planned ,space is always

taken into consideration.
• Foster’s designs have many bold shapes and uses
colour to enhance and emphasize his work
includes
- everything from door handles and
tables to airports, bridges, and office buildings.
•He doesn’t limit himself in the design world to
just one field,
• Works on small as well as big projects and the
big projects become famous .
• Foster’s advances in the design has allowed him
to alter many architectural rules.
DESIGN ELEMENTS…

Light :
•Through harnessing and collection of light,
individuals feel close to nature.
•Consideration of light and its effects on the
structure.
•His commercial buildings have a central
atrium that draws light to the core of the building.
•Believes light has a healing function.

• The Willis-Faber & Dumas building’s walls of glass

become transparent at night, allowing outsiders to
see inside.

Layers:
• Foster likes to play with different layers sending
message.
•The Reichstag has public viewing areas
above political buildings to send the message that-
politics should work to support the citizen.
•Reichstag also layers the idea of old and new,
 AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
• In 1994- awarded the AIA Gold Medal
• Second British architect to have won Sterling Prize twice.
• Awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1999
• In 2009 – Prince of Asturias Award, for Arts
• Received Aga Khan Award for Architecture
And is a fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers
He has received numerous more awards and recognition for his works over his
lifetime.
LIST OF PROJECTS DONE BY NORMAN FOSTER
1969–1971, Fred. Olsen Lines terminal, London Docklands, UK
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
1979–1986, HSBC Main Building, Hong Kong
1992, Torre de Collserola, Barcelona, Spain
1984–1993, Carré d'Art, Nîmes, France1994, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, United States
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
1999, Redevelopment of the Great Court of the British Museum, London, UK
2000, Greater London Authority Building (London City Hall), London, UK
1996–2000, Millennium Bridge, London, UK
2001, Expo MRT Station, Singapore
2001, Al Faisaliyah Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2001, J Sainsbury headquarters, Holborn Circus, London, UK
1999–2001, Lionel Robbins Building renovation, British Library of Political and Economic Science, London School of
Economics, London, UK
2002, 8 Canada Square (HSBC Group Head Office), London, UK
2003, Universiti Teknologi Petronas main campus, Malaysia
1997–2004, 30 St Mary Axe, Swiss Re London headquarters, London, UK
2004, The Sage Gateshead, Gateshead, UK
2004, Moor House, London, UK
2004, McLaren Technology Centre, Woking, UK
2004, Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London, UK
2004, The Millau Viaduct, near Millau, France
LIST OF PROJECTS DONE BY NORMAN FOSTER
2005, Supreme Court Building, Singapore
2005, Western Årsta Bridge, Stockholm, Sweden
2005, National Police Memorial, The Mall, London, UK
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,[2] New York City, United States
2006, Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building[3] at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
2006, Palace of Peace and Reconciliation,[4] Astana, Kazakhstan
2002–2007, Wembley Stadium, London, UK
2004–2007, The Willis Building, City of London, UK
2005–2007, Thomas Deacon Academy
2007, International Terminal, Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing, China
2006–2008, John Spoor Broome Library, California State University Channel Islands, United States.
2004–2008, Torre Caja Madrid, Madrid, Spain
2010, Art of the Americas Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
2003–2010 Florence TAV Station, Florence, Italy
2006-2010 Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center in Astana, Kazakhstan.
2004-2011 The Troika [2], Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2004–2009)
2007–2011 The Bow, Calgary, Canada
2002–2013 Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany
2013, Ombrelle, Old Port, Marseille, France.[6]
2014, Edward P. Evans Hall, School of Management, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
2014, Apple Store, Zorlu Center, Istanbul [7]
2014, Yacht Club de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco
 HI TECH ARCHITECTURE
•Display of building’s structural, functional and technical components.
•Buildings are made by orderly arrangement of pre-fabricated materials, such as
glass panels etc.
•Glass walls and steel frames are immensely popular.
•The idea of ‘revealed’ structure came into consideration.
•Hi-technology was used to minimize the energy consumption and make the
building more eco-friendly.
LANDMARK DESIGNS
The Gherkin (Skyscrapers can be eco-friendly) H
• Iconic symbol of London at 180 meters, 41 Floors and is one of the city's most widely
I
recognised examples of modern architecture.
• “Gherkin” meaning a cucumber denotes the unusual shape of the building. S
• Gaps in each floor create six air shafts that serve as a natural ventilation system for the entire
building.
• Diamond shaped scaly façade design gives a shimmering crystal image, very elegant design. W
• The slender shape provides minimum resistance to winds. O
• The narrower base is in line with the narrow London roads, which does not make the building
massive or imposing, even after its huge scale R
K
S
 •Giant double glazed structure
lets natural light in, enhancing H
the work environment and
reducing lighting costs.
I
•Energy-saving methods which S
allow it to use half the power a
similar tower would typically
consume
W
Bar for tenants and guests at 40th floor. O
Was achieved by stopping the main lift at
34th floor. And connecting a push-from- R
below lift till 39th floor, so as to maintain
a hindrance free flat surface at the K
topmost floor.
S

• External skeleton of the building

is made of cross-linked steel pieces,
which are then clad by the
diamond-shaped double glazing.

Tower's topmost panoramic dome, • Masterpiece in skyscraper

known as the "lens“ offers a magnificent architecture.
view of the city. The only curved piece of • Voted as the most admired new
glass in the building. building in the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRw
AfbFedPU
THE RIECHSTAG
H
• It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until
1933 when it was severely damaged in a fire. I
•After World War II, It was rendered useless.
The ruined building was made safe against the elements S
and partially refurbished in the 1960s, but no attempt at
full restoration was made until after German
reunification on October 3, 1990.
W
• The building was then renovated by Norman Foster. O
• This time his architecture was about power.
• Norman foster creates a landmark of cultures of R
very different times to express who or what they are • The futuristic and transparent design of the
through his architecture. Reichstag dome makes it a unique landmark, K
• The dome that he created above the Reichstag and symbolizes Berlin's attempt to move away
building was a symbol of the reunified Germany. from a past of Nazism and instead towards a S
• It stood for the democracy and unity of the new future with a heavier emphasis on a united,
nation. democratic Germany
 H
The challenges met by Foster were
• To restore damage I
• To take what was left of the old building
and make it look new again.
S
• To show what once happened to the
building, to show it’s history
• He handles this very sensitively. W
• He kept the Russian soldiers, sometimes O
obscene messages, written on the stone
walls. R
• Since it was a part of the German history, a
part of that building, which should not be K
wiped out.
S

• He proposed something that would

work with the ecology of the building
• It would work with the winds, would
draw sun in, would have shade.
• The Dome symbolizes that the people
are above the government.
ROOF -
• it is the symbolic import of unification, H
ecological function by collecting and conserving
solar energy and also handling natural ventilation I
• Fond Of principle of light
• This dome funnels light into the building during the
S
daytime.
• Dome is completely transparent ,suggesting that
democracy should be transparent and W
inviting.
O
USE OF HIGH-TECHNOLOGY
• All of the elements in the building were computer tested and even the dome R
was subjected to computer wind simulations in order to maximize space and
minimize excess.
K
S
Every trace of that original dome had been
destroyed by a combination of war, fire, neglect, and
post-war rebuilding. To make a literal reconstruction
of how it had once looked went counter to all the
architectural principles that Foster had come to
believe in. Yet to a vocal and influential minority
within Germany, it would be unthinkable to build a
new parliament without a dome.
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