Norman Foster did the almost impossible: he gave energy to the hopelessly outdated modernist paradigm at the end of the 1960s, more precisely - a passion for technology and technology, a craving for invention, faith in scientific and technological progress and healthy pragmatism. We can say that he picked up this method from Buckminster Fuller and carried it to our days, although, of course, in a modified form.
A native of the Manchester workers' quarters - oddly, and perhaps just explicable - did not take over the preoccupation with social issues from modernism. His works are dominated by large government and commercial orders - corporate headquarters, airports, factories, museums, train stations … Foster changed the idea of both modern airports and skyscrapers, looked for and found unexpected, functional solutions, and took into account the environmental theme.
Norman Foster's triumph came at the turn of the century, when the tallest skyscraper in Europe was built in Frankfurt according to his project -
Commerzbank, the renovated Reichstag with its extraordinary dome was opened in Berlin, the Millennium Bridge (although not without hesitation, let's say so) and the glazed courtyard of the British Museum, the St Mary Ax gherkin tower and the new city hall building, in France - the viaduct -record holder Millau. Then there was the Beijing airport and the new Wembley, but Foster had already begun to prepare his way out, gradually and not without difficulties transferring his bureau into new hands.
An architect can still participate in negotiations and follow the design process, but his interests clearly lie in other areas: he wants to continue to invent, rather than release objects of the same type, and, finally, to deal with social topics. Among his projects over the past ten years is a huge
Thames estuary airport, lunar base, drone port system as an alternative transport network for Africa. His foundation is open in Madrid, which also supports these endeavors, for which Foster - as Foster - can find himself the best partners, such as ETH Zürich.
But the most remarkable thing is that he does all this quite naturally, not hiding that most of the time he lives happily in Switzerland, and does not at all fight for the happiness of mankind. After all, his well-being is not hereditary privilege, but on the contrary, given that Western architects are dominated by people from a strong middle class.
For the sake of his comfortable (and profitable) life, he refused a seat in the House of Lords in 2010: as a lifelong peer since 1999, he was entitled to it, but under the new law he would have to live permanently in the UK and pay taxes there on income earned outside the country. … Norman Foster regularly participates in ski marathons, draws, admires cars of the mid-20th century, wears pullovers and jackets in pastel colors, works and travels in moderation: nothing extraordinary, but there is also irresistible about it - otherwise he would not have gained more than half a million followers on Instagram. when I suddenly decided to create an account there. After all, 85 years of being keenly interested in the world and not changing yourself is an achievement no less than the headquarters of HSBC or Stansted Airport.
