Norman Foster

Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM, FRIBA, FCSD, RDI, (born 1 June 1935) is a English architect whose company maintains an international design practice. He is Britain’s most prolific builder of landmark office buildings.

Foster was born in the Reddish area of Stockport, UK, to a working-class family. He was naturally gifted and performed well at school and took an interest in architecture, particularly in the works of Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier.

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). Later, he won the Henry Fellowship to the Yale School of Architecture, where he met former business partner Richard Rogers and earned his Master’s degree. He then travelled in America for a year, returning to the UK in 1962 where he set up an architectural practice as Team 4 with Rogers and their respective girlfriends, 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.

Other Information

• Name : Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM, FRIBA, FCSD, RDI
• Nationality : English, British
• Birth date : June 1, 1935
• Birth place : Stockport, Cheshire, England
• Education : University of Manchester’s School of Architecture and City Planning (1961)
• Firm : Foster and Partners

Notable Projects

• 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 View
• 1992, Torre de Collserola, Barcelona, Spain
• 1984-1993, Carre d’Art, Nîmes, France View on the map
• 1993, Kings Norton Library, Cranfield University
• 1993, Lycee Albert Camus, Frejus, 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
• 1991–1997, Commerzbank Tower, Frankfurt, Germany
• 1992–1998, Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong
• 1993–1998, Valencia Congress Centre, Valencia, Spain View on the map
• 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 View on the map
• 1996–2000, Millennium Bridge, London, United Kingdom View on the map
• 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, The 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 View on the map
• 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, 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, New York City, United States
• 2006, The Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building at the University of Toronto, Canada
• 2006, Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, 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
• 2007, International Terminal, Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing, China
• 2007–2008, Lumiere residences, Sydney, Australia
• 2006–2008, John Spoor Broome Library, Cal State Channel Islands
• 2007–2008, New Elephant House, Copenhagen Zoo, Copenhagen, Denmark

Awards and Recognitions

• Appointed, Order of Merit (1997)
• Stirling Prize
• Pritzker Architecture Prize (1999)
• Order Pour le Merite
• Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2007)
• Prince of Asturias Award (2009)

Links

• Foster and Partners

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