NORMAN FOSTER'S

Foster was born in Reddish, Stockport, England

in Levenshulme, Manchester.
Particularly interested in the works of Frank Lloyd
Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Le Corbusier.
In 1956 Foster attended the University of Manchester's
School of Architecture and City Planning.
He graduated in 1961. Later, Foster won the Henry
Fellowship to the Yale School of Architecture, where he
earned his Master's degree. Foster also met Richard
Rogers at Yale.
He then travelled in America for a year. He returned to the
UK in 1963.
He set up an architectural practice as Team 4 with Rogers
and the sisters Georgie and Wendy Cheesman.

Particularly interested in the works of Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, an

19701971, IBM Pilot Head Office, Cosham, Portsmouth, UK

19711975, Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters, Ipswich, UK
19741978, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Angla, Norwich, UK
1983, Renault Distribution Centre, Swindon, United Kingdom
19791986, HSBC Main Building, Hong Kong
1981-1991, Terminal building at London Stansted Airport, UK View on the map
1992, Torre de Collserola, Barcelona, Spain
1984-1993, Carr d'Art, Nmes, France View on the map
1993, Kings Norton Library, Cranfield University, UK
1993, Lyce Albert Camus, Frjus, France
1994, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska
19881995, Metro of Bilbao, Spain
1995, Faculty of Law, Cambridge
19951997, The Clyde Auditorium, part of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference n
Centre in Glasgow, Scotland
19911997, Commerzbank Tower, Frankfurt, Germany
19921998, Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong
19931998, 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 Building restoration, Berlin, Germany

 A building of 41 storeys built in 1986 as a

symbol of the capitalist economy in the
Pacific, and
One of the most expensive buildings of its
time: more than 90 million euros.

The building form is articulated in

a stepped profile of three
individual towers, respectively
twenty-nine, thirty-six and fortyfour storeys high, which create
floors of varying width and depth
and allow for garden terraces.

The mast structure allowed

another radical move, pushing the
service cores to the perimeter to
create deep-plan floors around a
ten-storey atrium.
A mirrored sunscoop reflects
sunlight down through the atrium
to the floor of a public plaza
below

 From the plaza, escalators rise up

through the glass underbelly to the
banking hall, which was conceived as a
shop window for banking.
The bridges that span between the
masts define double-height reception
areas that break down the scale of the
building both visually and socially.

A unique system of movement through

the building combines high-speed lifts to
the reception spaces with escalators
beyond, reflecting village-like clusters of
office floors.

From the outset, the Bank placed a high

priority on flexibility. Interestingly, over
the years, it has been able to reconfigure
office layouts with ease.

Commerzbank Tower, Frankfurt

Commerzbank Tower, Frankfurt

ROUTE
The architect wants to create clear and functional routes in the
buildings and surround it. His buildings must be legible to his
visitors.
In the Commerzbank this is realized by putting the vertical
transport (elevators, staircases) in the corners and the
horizontal transportation in between.

TECHNOLOGY
The architect wants to use the newest technologys to design
very sustainable buildings and reducing the CO2.

 By using innovative and, as

much as possible, natural
systems he can reduce the
consumption of energy.
DAYLIGHT
The architect wants to use
natural light to interact man
and nature. Natural light is a
part of the quality of life.
Daylight
upgrades
the
efficiency and state of mind
of the visitors and users of
the buildings.

SKY GARDENS
The architect wants to use sky gardens in
these buildings to bring a spatial quality. It
connect the users of the building with each
other and the directly surroundings.

Ventilation
The architect wants to create a climate quality
by using natural ventilation.
The CO2 discharge can be reduced
By using natural systems to control the climate
inside the Building.