ARTS — ART, ART HISTORY, AND DESIGN

Norman Foster: Envisioning Design at the

Edge of Reality
Kevin Oles

Q uiet and self-assured, Norman Foster glides into a room with a relaxed and casual air. To
the chance observer, Foster appears like an airline pilot: someone who is required to be confident
in his every move. However, to the knowing observer, Foster is one of the most successful and
significant architects in Great Britain, if not the world. The innovative nature and radical ideas of
his designs have influenced successive generations of architects. Despite his highly successful
architectural practice and recognition for his innovative nature, Foster is a man nervous of
lengthy introductions and elaborate gestures, which possibly stems from his fairly humble
background.1
Foster’s architectural career spans more than thirty years. He has designed structures in
Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, Barcelona, and even Omaha. Many of his designs have been
heralded as “groundbreaking” or “landmark,” as Foster constantly strives to stay ahead of
architectural trends. Foster’s design style, which he calls “high-tech,” not only stems from his
background and love of intricate machinery, but also emanates from the influence of his teachers,
who taught him to think at the edge of the modern technological curve.

Early Years: Thinking and Discovering

Norman Foster was born in Manchester, England in 1939. Foster’s home life was stable,
albeit humble. Norman’s father was injured in World War I, causing him to be excused from
service during World War II. The Foster house was very small—entered through the rear door
which leads straight into the kitchen. The front door was used only for show and scrubbed
regularly. However, within the framework of the house, values and family ambitions were
straightforward. Although Norman Foster rarely saw his father—he slept days and worked nights
at an aircraft factory—Norman still “felt loved by every particle of the family and the house.”2
Norman was neither an exceptional nor a challenged student, doing well but not passing
all of his subjects in the general Certificate Examination. Foster believes that he did not think of
himself as bright. He says, “I was the odd one out.”3 Foster did show, however, a great
propensity for model construction sets and motors. This fascination with working machines and
the details of assembling models continues to show itself in his current fascination with airplanes
and gliders.4
 In the hope of Norman securing a job that paid significantly, giving him a chance to
contribute to the family, Norman’s parents pressured him to continue his studies. During the last
year of grammar school, Foster nurtured a growing interest in the public library. Here, Foster
discovered the philosophy of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. In further browsing, Foster happened
upon two influential books, Le Corbusier’s Towards a New Architecture and Henry Russell
Hitchcock’s In the Nature of Materials. These books were highly powerful for Foster and started
a never-ending love for architecture. Le Corbusier and Henry Russell Hitchcock, as first
exposures to architecture, shaped the method by which Foster perceived materials and design. In
his survey of the library, Norman awakened in himself a passion for architecture that seemed to
burn within him. Although it was not until 1957 that Foster would begin any sort of training in
architecture, he spent as much time possible studying the discipline. He felt that he was
“consumed by a passion for architecture and designing.”5
Foster eventually made his way to Manchester University where he studied architecture
as an undergraduate for four years. At the end of these studies, Foster received a Henry
Fellowship to continue his architectural studies in the United States. Foster was received at Yale
under the direction of Paul Rudolph. In graduate work, Foster would study under Rudolph and
notables like Phillip Johnson and Vincent Sully. Foster would also have the pleasure of
becoming close friends with another British student, Richard Rogers.

Moving into his Own: Reliance Factory

Norman’s friendships paid off as he traveled back to London to create a partnership

called Team 4—one of the partners was Richard Rogers. In this group there was only one
certified architect: Georgie Wolton. While Team 4 created a large body of work as an
architectural practice, one building stands out in Foster’s memory: an electronics factory for
Reliance Controls. This building, as Foster says, “was the first and the last building that I was
totally immersed in from the concept down to the smallest detail.” Foster describes the ideal
behind his radical design of the factory:
Instead of the usual management box, with a workers’ shed tacked on, front and back,
posh and scruffy; white collar/blue collar demarcations—we proposed a single,
democratic pavilion. Production and administration were separated only by a moveable
glass wall. And there was just one, single, common entrance for all employees.6
Foster designed this building with Richard Rogers. Foster wanted to eliminate distinctions like
“we and they” and “clean and dirty.”7 Thus, he designed a simple building, structured like a long,
single-story shed designed to promote flexibility in the company as it grew. The single cross
bracings emphasize its simple structure. Foster carried his notion of flexibility into the roof
decking design where he set the overhead lighting into the metal roof such that it served not only
as a structural component but also as a lighting reflector. In partitioning the interior of the
building, Foster found it important to use moveable partitions that did not serve as structural
components but that furthered his design goals of democracy and flexibility. The Reliance
factory could be described as one of Foster’s initial experiments in building flexibility into a
building.

The Black Blob: Willis-Faber & Dumas Building

 After the Reliance Controls factory, Foster started his own practice, Foster Associates.
Eventually, he was commissioned to design the Willis-Faber & Dumas building. The building
was to be a headquarters for Willis-Faber & Dumas’ business holding and insurance company.
The officers asked Foster to design a building to facilitate such a business. The building that
Foster created was highly radical. It is a building of dual natures. During the day an air of
mystery surrounds the building as its dark, glassy figure reflects light and inquiring gazes. At
night, the building becomes transparent because of bright interior lighting. Many local residents
describe the building as “a visitor from another planet” or the “black blob.” The structure’s plot
of land is shaped irregularly with a curving street fronting it. This abnormality would hinder
some architects, but Foster turned it into an advantage. Foster took advantage of the curving
nature of the road and mimicked it in the curve of the building. He utilized the unconventional
road line to represent a break from normal languages employed in office buildings.
I believe that Foster attempted a full-frontal attack on the design aesthetic of local
residents and the individuals who work in the Willis-Faber building. A study of the building and
its design aesthetic provides a direct link to Le Corbusier, who, in his Five Points in New
Architecture, speaks of many details that Foster implemented in its construction.8 The roof
garden illustrates this point. Le Corbusier thought that gardens were an environmental
consideration essential in aggressive urban environments. If one cannot enjoy light and air at
ground level—Le Corbusier and Foster argue—then such pursuits must be transferred to the roof
level. In viewing the building, one also perceives a strong democratic element in its design, for
all—blue collar, white collar, management and maintenance—must enter the building from the
same entrance and circulate the building on the same escalators. Foster wanted to create a high-
tech, spacious workspace where employees could not only work but also relax. To this end,
Foster installed a large swimming pool on the first floor of the building. In such efforts, Foster
made a statement about the value of equality in work.
Inside, the open floor plan facilitates movement promoted by the escalators that link the
three floors and create a spacious, well-lit atrium at the heart of the building. One can move
through the Willis-Faber & Dumas building unconstrained—unhindered by the supervisors and
unrestrained by the architecture.
Overall, Foster has created a kinetic experience at different levels. The building
represents Willis-Faber & Dumas’ move from the city of London to the provinces, and on
another level, the building reminds observers of the street level with its mimicry of the street
line, repeating the kineticism of traffic and busy streets. I believe that the Willis-Faber & Dumas
building reminds one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture with its “temple-of-work” quality.
The aspect of openness and freedom of movement is another example of Foster’s growing
obsession with flexibility. Moreover, his belief in the importance of light is reflected in his use of
the atrium. Still, the Willis-Faber & Dumas building is highly focused on the geometry of Le
Corbusier.

More Blobs: Sainsbury Center for the Visual Arts

Foster’s next commission was the Sainsbury Center for the Visual Arts. This building is
another example of Foster’s groundbreaking design approach. Sainsbury serves to exemplify
Foster’s solidifying architectural ideals. Malcom Quantrill describes the building as part of
Foster’s “unidentified flying objects” building set.9 The site upon which Sainsbury is built was
formerly an American airbase during the 1940s. In the building’s design, Foster claims, a visual
reminder of that time period is important, and the design he chose, resembling an aircraft
hanger, is exactly that sort of reminder. The Sainsbury Center is a rectangular prism that calls to
mind elements of industrial design and industrial machinery. The building was assembled from a
kit of parts machined in factories and resembles what many visitors describe as “an undecorated
shed.” In creating an art museum that resembles a shed, Foster references sheds and hangers as
methods of storage and attempts to elevate the simple design of a shed to fine art. Malcolm
Quantrill remarks that the Sainsbury Center’s resemblance to an aircraft hanger, reveals that
Foster connects his design to Durtet’s 1889 design for the Galerie des Machines.10 Moreover, in
linking Sainsbury to Durtet, Foster establishes his design style as pre-Corbusier. However,
emphasizing geometry as a method of expressing design cannot be forgotten as a link to Le
Corbusier. The building also follows a Corbusierian design idea in its positioning within nature;
its stark geometrical structure stands out against the natural surroundings. The horizontal aircraft
hanger contrasts with the verticality of the surrounding trees and shrubbery. In that contrast,
Foster emphasizes geometry itself.
With Sainsbury Center, Foster created a locus that bridges past, present, and future. The
airplane was the original vehicle, and the visual arts have become the new vehicle. The hanger
was the locus where the airplane was stored and protected, while the Sainsbury Center for Visual
Arts is the locus where art is protected, stored, and exhibited.
The interior of Sainsbury mimics the hanger ideal of its exterior. The building has no
internal ornaments, leaving it completely open and flexible to the demands of exhibiting art. The
interior seems to fade away when visitors enter it as the individual’s focus becomes the works of
art and not their gallery. As noted, Foster started working with the idea of flexibility in Reliance
Controls. Since the Reliance Controls Factory, flexibility has become apparent as a design ideal.
Foster believes that a building is most effective when it is designed such that the building does
not interfere with the actions of the individuals in it. Moreover, a flexible design is often simple
and well planned, unifying its message and purpose. Such a building works to facilitate its
planned purpose—commercial, residential, and so on. Another of Foster’s ideas, observable in
the Willis-Faber building and Sainsbury, is the controlled manipulation of light for a specific
lighting goal. In the Willis-Faber building, Foster utilized darkly colored glass to imbue the
building with two different exterior skins. In Foster’s Sainsbury Center, light is manipulated by
skylights and window treatments. Light is controlled and introduced into the building as the
individual deems necessary. Foster refined his use of glass: the Sainsbury panels are each full-
height whereas the Willis-Faber building required multiple panels. Understanding and
controlling light has become part of Foster’s design agenda; he harnesses it as a material in
architectural design. Foster forwards the notion of “pulling” light into a building, blending nature
and architecture, the animate and the inanimate. In doing so, Foster links the organic with the
geometric.

The New Paradigm for Skyscrapers: The Hongkong & Shanghai

Bank

The officers of the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank realized in the late 1960s that their
business was growing too large for its existing headquarters. Responding to this space problem,
the officers organized a design competition for a new bank building. The architectural climate in
Hong Kong was very restrictive and controlled. Zoning requirements were very strict; all
blueprints and designs had to circulate through the Building Ordinance Office (BOO). The office
had final authority on a building’s design and construction. The BOO exercised its veto power
often. In response to these stringent requirements, architects in Hong Kong created buildings out
of a “cookie-cutter model” which called for an interior floor (available in six different
configurations) standardized around a central core of elevators. The exterior façade was chosen
by the client from among the six available standard types. Land was another strong factor, as
buying land accounted for more than seventy percent of total construction costs. Therefore, the
Hongkong & Shanghai Bank officers opted not to buy a new parcel of land; rather, they planned
construction on the current building’s site.
The new Hongkong & Shanghai Bank building, its officers determined, would challenge
the growing trend of standardization, thus establishing a new paradigm for commercial buildings
in Hong Kong. The officers wanted the new bank building to hold a permanent position in the
city’s skyline. The Bank’s directors published the following aims for the design competition:
1. To help the bank decide on an approach to solving the problem of whether to demolish
the existing bank or to accommodate the structure in the design.
2. To select and appoint an architect.11
Privately, the directors established further directives for the project. The bank wanted its chosen
architect to submit a plan that proposed an original design which also followed specific
guidelines.
1. The architect must have superior local knowledge and experience.
2. The new bank building must be capable of the same powerful symbolism the old
bank building had. Peter Williams, deputy chairman of the bank stated, “whatever it
looks like, it must look like a bank—whatever that is.”12
3. While the new bank building was being constructed, the architect had to consider
that the bank wanted “suitable accommodation in Hong Kong while the
redevelopment took place.”13
After a feasibility study, the bank refined this third requirement stating that the north tower of the
current Hongkong & Shanghai Bank building would stand while the new bank building would be
constructed on the site of the soon-to-be-demolished south tower. The bank, its officers decided,
would stay on site, functioning daily and continuing business whilst the new building was under
construction. Overall, the Bank simply wanted an architect who would have a clever concept for
a banking building. However, the bank’s officers knew that the probability of a novel design
passing the BOO was less than one percent.
On Tuesday, September 18, 1979, Roy Munden, the assistant general manager of the
Bank’s management services, visited Norman Foster in his office and discussed designs and
design plans. Munden’s comment about the day was, “he [Foster] talks and talks and talks.”14
Munden also commented on Foster’s flexibility. Although some of the solutions Foster presented
were highly impractical, Munden liked Foster’s ability to come up with flexible, alternative
designs. Munden also visited the Willis-Faber & Dumas building and liked its extraordinary
appearance and the way in which it stood in stark contrast to its surroundings. Munden realized
that using Foster, if he were selected as the architect of the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank, would
require someone to balance his brilliance against his inability to produce practical designs.
On October 8th of that same year, the bank opened its competition, allowing architects to
submit their designs. Of the myriad firms in the competition, the radical methods of three stood
above the others: Yuncken Freeman, SOM, and Norman Foster. Differing from others, Foster’s
studio did not provide site plans or any drawings in the submission—only a written proposal.
Munden and the board of directors, after a few brief meetings, decided that they must choose
Foster, as his entry “just stuck out like a sore thumb.”15 Foster was soon contracted to put his
writings into reality and design the new Hongkong & Shanghai Bank Building.
The design of the building was difficult. Foster and his team of architects ran into many
problems in the design process. One difficulty emerged with respect to the Bank’s original
structure. Foster opposed the Bank’s idea to demolish the Southern half of the existing structure
and build in its place. He claimed that halving the bank building would interfere with its normal
business routines. Instead, he proposed to build directly over the existing building; demolishing
only after the bank moved into the new structure.
Another problem Foster encountered was in the general design; he wanted to create a
building that was not solely a bank, but rather, a building in which the public would feel
welcome. Foster wanted to move away from the current trend of building skyscrapers. He hated
the idea of a central service core, so he pushed service areas to the edge of the building in his
design. Without a central core, the floor plan would have to be rethought. Eventually, the studio
decided to hang the floors from the supporting edges with trusses, much like a railroad bridge.
Foster’s next move was to incorporate a diagonal lattice structure that closely resembled the
Hancock Building in Chicago, Illinois. This idea, however, was discarded because of its
unoriginality. The design Foster presented to the Bank officers was a downward chevron design.
This design emphasized structural steel frames that supported the floors. The officers did not like
the scheme and worried about the fung-shui element in the downward nature of the chevrons.
Adding insult to injury, Edward Kennard, principal government surveyor of the BOO and
supporter of Foster’s scheme, was arrested on charges of accepting bribes. After Kennard’s
arrest, no one at the BOO was willing to even look at Foster’s chevron scheme. This turn of
events ensured the scheme’s failure.
Thus, Foster found himself back at the beginning with no design ideas. The entire studio
was out of ideas until Foster himself hit upon a revolutionary “coat hanger” scheme. In this idea,
bracings resembling coat hangers were hung from the pillars that bracketed the building. The
coat hangers had the dual effect of bracing the floors and distributing the overall weight of the
building. The Bank’s chairman approved this new design. This scheme was the “big idea” Foster
was looking for, and he employed it in his final draft design presented to the board of directors
on January 23, 1981. The bank ratified Foster’s design on the 27th and two weeks later, the plans
were published. After an immense amount of conflict over the various structural components and
their design, the building was finished on Monday, November 18, 1985. Once the superstructure
material arrived on the building site, it took a total of thirty-five months for the building to be
completed. The whole building project, from initial planning stages to completion, took eight
years.
The Hongkong & Shanghai Bank building truly embodied the architectural paradigm that
the board of directors sought. Its sleek form against the Hong Kong skyline is striking. The
building spawned its own language, from bowties and butterfly nodes to the “Burning Bush” and
“Marilyn Monroe” effects. The Hongkong & Shanghai Bank was also in fact the first building
that employed research, engineering, and design on computers. Foster was granted much latitude
in designing the building—from the general exterior to interior details like the banking terminals
on the main floor. The building was masterfully designed, from the number of elevators to whisk
people through the building, to the variety of floors, to the efficient design of the structural coat
hangers.
 The unique exterior skin of the building is accentuated by the exposed and distinctive
coat hangers. The building stands in stark contrast to the rest of the Hong Kong skyline as a
radical structure among the conventional. It also offers multiple layers of transparency. The
structural elements, such as the coat hangers are opaque, while the glass is transparent; this
allows the observer multiple vistas. The dual nature of the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank building
also adds to its general aesthetic. While it is a building designed around money and business
efficiency, it is also a building that invites the individual—opacity lends itself to the
confidentiality of banking, while transparency offers the observer an idea of the internal
workings of the bank.
In composing the skyscraper with a coat hanger design and structural pillars bracketing
the building, rather than a solitary, solid mass, Foster challenged the traditional notion of a
commercial skyscraper. He also attacked the idea of mass by stacking the building in vertical
layers, rather than one geometrical shape. It is this theme of layers that is repeated throughout the
building. I believe this continuity and repetition of theme transforms the building from
commercial office to masterpiece. Layers are repeated at different levels and in different motifs.
For example, the building itself is vertically layered, the coat hangers are layered on top of the
glass, and the banking hall is layered on the public space.
The interior is a composition in harmony. The escalators which transport the public into
the banking hall and dominate the central atrium are positioned in accordance with the original
fung-shui plan which Foster prepared during his initial visit to Hong Kong. The atrium pulls light
into the heart of the building and pushes it through the building, penetrating all spaces. I believe
that by including the atrium, Foster links the design of this commercial building to those of his
other structures, distinguishing it from the designs submitted by other architects. The ground
level is an entirely public space, open to the over twenty-two thousand people who cross it
everyday. Foster pushed the elevators and load bearing structures to the very edge of the
building, thus opening interior space and allowing for more flexibility. Moreover, the view from
inside the building over the Hong Kong skyline is framed by the glass and steel of the building’s
structure such that the building decides how observers see Hong Kong.

Synthesizing Old & New: Carré d’Art, Nimes

A celebrated Roman artifact sits in the middle of Nimes, France. The Maison Carrée is a
well preserved, first century Roman temple. Across the street from the temple, a plot of land was
designated for a museum and library. Norman Foster, chosen over notable architects Frank
Gehry and Caesar Pelli, was charged with the task of designing the museum. The project
demanded that the architect be mindful of the area and consider the surrounding area, especially
the Maison Carrée. Foster commented on designing the new museum.
I was deeply impressed by the urban structure of Nimes, with its strong simple routes and
good spaces—particularly that space which is the setting for the Roman temple, the
Maison Carrée. I felt that this space should not be changed—it seemed familiar and it
worked well. Interestingly, our design in response to the international competition for this
project was the only entry that did not try to change the nature of that space. I was
impressed, also, by the Roman Arena and the nineteenth-century Jardins de la Fontaine.
The new building became an opportunity to promote links between these two gems, with a
main entrance on the corner adjoining the Boulevard Victor Hugo and a secondary
 entrance on its diagonal corner at the rue Gaston Bossier. This creates a diagonal route at
the entrance level, which can become a public shortcut, encouraging movement into the
building and through it.16
Foster’s sensitivity to the surrounding area led him to design the Carré d’Art with a total height
equal to the buildings around it. He decided to shape the museum like an iceberg, hiding a large
portion of the building underground. Foster also linked the Carré d’Art to the Maison Carrée by
setting the museum onto a plinth of local stone, a device often used in classical architecture. The
plinth helped to “set” the museum firmly in the street. Of course, the plinth also presents a
practical benefit by protecting the Carré d’Art against flooding, common to Nimes. From this
detail, it is clear that the vernacular architecture of the region influenced Foster; he tied the Carré
d’Art to classical tradition by designing a courtyard for the center of the building, using steps and
terraces to vary height and viewpoint, and appealing to the grid pattern formed by Nimes’ central
buildings. Foster also abstracted the colonnade to reference classical design, but not to mimic it.
The colonnade supports a “giant umbrella” that indicates the entrance to the museum. The
umbrella also creates public space directly off the street, inviting people to linger around the
building and enjoy its beauty.
In this setting, Foster again created a work of art to contain other works of art. The
building is clad in glass. Some of the glasswork was so high-tech that it was being patented at the
same time it was installed. There are three different kinds of glass utilized in the Carré d’Art:
clear, opaque, and “fritted” glass (glass that is neither completely opaque nor completely clear).
Again, Foster’s obsession with light is evident, for while the central courtyard unites the museum
with its surroundings, it also brings light into the center of the museum. Since the Carré d’Art is
built primarily of glass, light penetrates through the building vertically and horizontally. Critics
of the museum claim that this transparency makes the museum “easily seen through and lacking
in any aesthetic beyond technology.”17 Foster responds to such criticism with the response that
“it was intentional.”18 I believe that Foster is trying to make a statement by juxtaposing a
thoroughly modern building against a first-century Roman temple. Foster opposes classical,
ancient styling to minimal detailing and precise modern materials. With this placement, Foster
compares modern and classical design. I believe Foster is suggesting that the theories of
design—classical and modern—should be considered equal; no longer should modern
architectural design be thought the second cousin of classical design. Creating a building that is
almost completely transparent, he is recalling buildings such as Phillip Johnson’s glass house in
New Canaan and Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth and Tugendhat Houses. Foster also contrasts
the transparency of glass with the opacity of the stone and blocks of the Maison Carrée.
With his design of a completely transparent museum, Foster disputes the normal
interpretations of inside and outside. If individuals inside the building can be seen from the
outside, what is the difference between the two positions? Foster also designed a balcony at the
highest story of the Carré d’Art, creating a “courtyard in the sky.” Patrons can sit “inside” the
museum and feel as if they were “outside.”

Journey to Tokyo: Century Tower & Kawana House

The successful Hongkong & Shanghai Bank building became its own advertisement,
expressing to all viewers the remarkable design talent of Norman Foster. When Kazuo Akao, a
Japanese developer, considered a new building for his Obunsha Publishing Company, Foster
immediately came to his mind. Kazuo often visited Hong Kong on business and would stay in
the Mandarin Hotel adjacent to the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank. He contracted Foster to design
a skyscraper in Tokyo. The building has an irregular massing—with twenty-one stories at the
south (front) tower and only nineteen stories at the north (rear) tower, which was regulated by
the zoning regulations in the Tokyo district of Bunkyo-ku.
The truss structure bracing the floors is reminiscent of the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank
building’s original design. With technological innovations, Foster was able to return to a design
which originally inspired him. Essential to this design are the double height floors, supported by
the trusses. The building has four structural columns at the edges which support the trusses and
carry the weight of the floors. Again, Foster dismissed the idea of a central core and pushed his
structural elements and elevator shafts to the building’s corners. Spreading weight loads with
trusses and decentralized frames gave the building basic shock resistance (necessary in Japan,
which experiences frequent earthquakes) and column-free office space. The Century Tower
building is essentially two towers connected by a bridging atrium. The atrium, which Foster calls
“the slot,” allows light to bounce between the two towers. Century Tower is the first building in
Japan given clearance to have a central atrium. Before Foster’s design, commercial buildings
were mandated to have enclosed floors. Foster also designed transparent glass sections to the
eastern and western axes of the building and thus, the structure is transparent. He again brought
into play the ideas of duality and layer—very evident in the industrial design of opaque bracing
and transparent glass.
Foster also designed flexibility into the building, for each floor could be partitioned into
two separate halves (one in each tower) or used as a unified whole. As Kazuo was a real estate
developer, the building was designed to house his headquarters but also to have ample space to
rent. Foster had to think about flexibility and dynamism in permanent and temporary form. At
the ground level, Foster created another lobby which became a naturally lit public space. The
other interior spaces are designed to be open and flexible, but also lavish and incorporating
special features for Kazuo’s clients. The basement includes an exclusive health club and a
museum for displaying Kazuo’s antiques and valuables. Foster designed the front entrance to
resemble Japanese Torii gates (spiritual gates). The entrance recalls a formal, ritual language
when one passes into the building. The language is a mix between the traditional Japan and the
new Japan; one Japan embraces technology while the other respects ancestors, culture, and
history. Foster symbolizes this blending by layering industrial design elements upon traditional
Japanese elements.
At the same time that Foster designed the Century Tower, he also designed a house in
Japan for a private client. The house is remarkable, another characteristic example of Foster’s
main design ideas. To create the house, Foster studied traditional Japanese house designs and
synthesized traditional and high-tech elements. Foster installed a series of louvers in the ceiling,
allowing the owner to control the amount of natural light filtering into the house. The louvers
have the capability to track the sun’s movement and provide the house with natural, energy
efficient heat and light throughout the day. David Nelson, a partner in Foster’s office, comments
upon the “Japanese” nature of the house:
Those temples and gardens not only raise your spirits and catch the imagination, they also
succeed in making indelible marks on you as a designer. Qualities of light, and more
particularly shadow, the interdependent relationship of inside and outside space, the use of
consistency of material—these are the touchstones of a humane and spiritual architecture
that seems largely lost to us in the West today.19
 This quality of light and shadow is found in the adjustable ceiling, allowing for wide
variations in the appearance of the interior. The louvers can be fully opened, and the ceiling
becomes a window, creating an overall soft glow. On the other hand, the louvers can be closed
and artificial lighting opens up possibilities of emphasizing sculptures, paintings, or other areas
of the home. The result is a house that mixes Japanese spirit with Western technology.

Rethinking the Skyscraper, Again: The Commerzbank Building

In the latter half of the 1980s, the Commerzbank was sectioned into departments situated
in over thirty buildings around Frankfurt am Main. The bank’s officers realized that because of
developing technology and new financial products, they did not need more space, but rather a
different kind of space. The Commerzbank structure needed to be centralized. In a consolidated
space, communication between departments would be easier, encouraging creative teamwork.
After a feasibility study, the bank’s officers decided to plan a new building. A centralized
building was decided upon, to be built on the site of the current twenty-nine-story headquarters.
In the early 1980s, however, the government had effectively outlawed high-rise buildings in
response to negative public sentiment. By 1989, though, the public’s opposition to tall buildings
had relaxed to a point such that construction of a new skyscraper became possible.20 The bank
opened an international competition to design its new headquarters. The competition was devised
with four conditions:
1. As the skyscraper would be of international stature, international submissions
would be allowed.
2. The new building would give back public space to the city.
3. It would have a useable floor area of around 70,000 square meters, parking for over 300
automobiles, and a height of around 260 meters.
4. Most importantly, the building would have to address a wide range of ecological
conditions before permission would be granted for the design.21
In Germany, energy efficiency is a real concern. It became a standardized practice in the 1980s
to minimize the use of energy-wasting air-conditioning in public buildings. The directors of the
Commerzbank were happy to undertake the cause of energy efficiency, because, in the words of
the competition brief, “through the creation of an ecologically sound building, we have the
chance to portray ourselves as an innovative Bank which takes it social responsibility
seriously.”22
In researching German building techniques to prepare for the design competition, Foster
discovered an unspoken vernacular ideal that every workstation should be close to a window and
should have a view outside. This idea limited the nature of the building and its structure. In
thinking about various designs, Foster ruled out a New York style skyscraper because this would
violate all of the design parameters. A shallow tower with a central structural core was also ruled
out as too inefficient in wall-to-floor area. Another idea he considered was styled after Le
Coubusier’s Plan Vosin for Paris, and it included a tower with crenellations for individual access
to light and air. This idea was also too inefficient because it required a larger building footprint
than available. Eventually, a triangular plan was settled upon because it was less confrontational
with the aesthetic and the positioning of the surrounding buildings and would distinguish itself in
the Frankfurt skyline. Foster added his distinctive touch and designed a central atrium to bring
light to the center of the building. Foster thought that the atrium would provide multiple scenes
to those working inside the skyscraper. In the testing phase, Foster discovered that a tube was
structurally “stiffer” than a solid object; moreover, if the structural members were placed at the
corners of the building, offices could be spaciously situated at the bridges between them.23
Pushing the structural monocoques to the edges unlocked interior space and opened the inside to
view the outside in any direction. In the atrium, light flooded through the skyscraper and created
a “live, luminous, quasi-external shaft of space.”24
The Commerzbank competition brief spoke about the possibility of rooftop gardens, but
Foster took this design idea a step further and designed gardens inside the building that spiraled
up the tower in three floor intervals. When Foster pushed the structural monocoques to the edges
of the skyscraper, the gardens were open and did not require columns for support. This design
element destroyed normal notions of skyscrapers; now the individual had a beautiful view in any
direction with a sightline into the atrium, a garden, or outside. Foster enhanced the gardens’
energy efficiency by designing windows that could be opened for fresh air and efficient cross-
ventilation regardless of the wind direction.
Needless to say, Foster’s team won the design competition with their elegant yet
technologically sophisticated design. As the design process continued, Foster’s plan encountered
a problem: the elevators were housed in a structural component called “the fish-tail.” This
component was included in the design to house all of the elevators and connect an additional
tower that the Commerzbank directors considered including. When the elevators were
concentrated in the fish-tail, though, there were simply not enough elevators to efficiently service
all floors. Additionally, the fish-tail was an expensive structural component, contributed
significantly to the skyscraper’s heat loss, reduced energy efficiency, spoiled the aerodynamic
shape of the tower, and was positioned too close to the existing buildings. The fish-tail was
eliminated and the elevators were distributed to the structural monocoques, increasing the
possible number of elevators and ridding the Commerzbank of the many problems associated
with it.
In Foster’s final design scheme, the buildings stationed at the foot of the Commerzbank
tower are lower than the existing buildings which surround it. This creates the image that the
Commerzbank tower thrusts out the line of buildings. The carport was moved from the planned
basement to a seven-story garage nearby. This reduced the basement depth and the overall
construction cost. Foster also added an open public piazza to the north side of the building which
leads to the main entrance of the tower.
A visitor to the bank described the Commerzbank building as a “friendly looking
skyscraper.”25 The building is formed as a triangular tube, perforated through the center. The
four-story interior gardens give the building a natural, personal quality, removing the “soulless”
feeling of many commercial buildings. Foster wanted to emphasize the difference between the
office levels and the garden levels, so the exterior walls surrounding the gardens have a different
window cladding system. Foster believed that regimenting the Commerzbank building with a
uniform curtain wall would deny the very nature of the design concept. Thus, the building has
two exterior layers: the curtain wall of the office levels and the curtain wall of the gardens. The
upward spiraling nature of the gardens creates a broken surface, such that the cladding is not
circularly uniform around the building. Rather, the different layers of curtain wall spiral around
the building. The windows can be opened, allowing air to circulate. However, the window is
more than a clear panel with a view outside. Colin Davies describes the window: It is a piece of
mechanical equipment that mediates between the external and the internal environment,
optimizing the balance between comfort and energy consumption by controlling ventilation, heat
loss, solar heat gain, and day lighting.26
The windows are a tool by which the building’s energy is conserved. With Venetian
blinds, the windows act as a passive cooling device, saving on air-conditioning costs. The blinds
provide an effective means of preventing excess heat from entering the building, working as an
efficient barrier to heat gain from solar radiation. Moreover, due to their precise engineering and
stacked arrangement, the windows help circulate cool air at the window sill into the building as
the outside temperature rises. Oddly, the sun’s heat contributes to the cooling effects of the
building.
In keeping with the energy efficient competition brief, the skyscraper costs significantly
more to staff the building with employees than to operate its mechanical systems. The
Commerzbank building was computer-engineered and operated in virtual environments to rule
out all possible design and mechanical problems before construction. Additionally, engineers ran
complex flow analysis programs to understand airflow through the building. Using computerized
fluid dynamics programs, engineers were able to determine velocity, direction, and building
temperature changes under all possible conditions. Without the aid of sophisticated computer
software to aid in the designing of the building, Foster would have been unable to maximize the
energy efficiency of such a large building. Even with all of these technologies, there are times
when the building is warmed enough that air conditioning is required.
In its technological innovation, the Commerzbank building shatters architectural
paradigms. It is an artwork of technical design; the calculated airflow within and without the
building is a sign of this art. Never before had the energy design of a building been planned so
meticulously. A skyscraper is a commercial building designed to make money by exponentially
increasing the number of people who work on a single plot of land. The traditional method of
skyscraper design was to create a building with the largest possible footprint and cram the largest
possible number of people on a floor, producing a building that generated profit through volume
of work. The design ideal behind the Commerzbank building was to approach the profit ideal of
the skyscraper by reducing costs. By frontloading efforts and making the skyscraper as
inexpensive as possible through technological innovation, Foster created a building that is
inexpensive to operate and aesthetically beautiful. Aesthetically, the building was defined by
Spencer de Grey, another partner working at Foster and Partners.
The plan of the tower is triangular, with each side gently curved convexly to maximize
space efficiency, giving the form of three “petals” with a central “stem.” All the lifts,
staircases, and services are placed in the three corners, and the vertical circulation was
designed to reinforce the village-like clusters of offices and gardens.27
The result of this planning is a healthy office climate which promotes air and staff circulation.
The gardens serve the same role by creating an artificial world in which employees can relax
while at work. The plants, being temperate, respond to the seasons just like the people that
inhabit the building. In effect, the building lives and breathes like a person.
The central atrium testifies to Foster’s obsession with light. It brings light directly to the
interior offices and pulls light into the heart of the structure. Moreover, Foster designed the
offices so that the light conditions, natural or artificial, can be controlled by individuals in
response to available daylight. Like the Carré d’Art, this building is transparent in all
directions—vertically, horizontally, and through every point of the compass. Foster’s other idea,
layers, is also evident in the exterior of the Commerzbank building. The various layers are etched
directly into the side of the building and they spiral upwards.
The revolutionary ecological character of the Commerzbank building tends to
overshadow its aesthetic appeal. In truth, however, it is as revolutionary aesthetically as it is
ecologically. The Commerzbank building represents a rejection of the traditional method of
designing commercial buildings and embarks upon a new path in design aesthetic. The assault
that Foster originally launched with the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank building and continued in
the Century Tower is fully realized in the Commerzbank building. In the first two skyscrapers
Foster designed, he attacked the design of the traditional. He could not fully escape from that
tradition, however, and his buildings still had the square nature usual in skyscrapers. The
Commerzbank building represents a complete departure from the norm, albeit following Foster’s
continuing design ideals.

Rebuilding & Remembering: The Reichstag

At the end of World War II, the global community debated Germany’s future. The
superpowers—the Soviet Union and the United States—decided that it would be best to divide
Germany into two separate countries. The western half of Germany was to be managed by the
U.S. and the eastern half by the Soviet Union. The western half of Germany, after extensive
rebuilding under the Marshall Plan, was given autonomy and encouraged to seek free elections
and a market economy. East Germany, under Communist control, descended under what
Churchill named “the iron curtain.” East Germany became a closed country from which citizens
could not leave and visitors could not enter. Berlin, the former capital of unified Germany,
became a divided city that mirrored the overall partitioning of the nation. Berlin was eventually
divided by a massive wall that stretched across the entirety of the city. However, once
Communism in Russia fell and the Soviet Union collapsed, East Germany was allowed to find its
own position in the world. In 1991, the Berlin Wall was torn down by citizens who became once
again free to move about Germany.
The German parliament decided that to celebrate the reunification of Germany, the
capital city would be moved from Bonn, in the west, to Berlin. However, the old German
parliament building, the Reichstag, was not fit to house the democratic body of the German
government. Thus, a competition was created for architects to design the new parliament
building to house the Bundestag, which would sit on the site of the old Reichstag. This
competition was open to all German architects and some fourteen international competitors pre-
selected by the design committee. For the first stage of the design competition, which called for a
usable space of more than thirty-four thousand square meters, Foster’s team designed an awning
which stretched over the whole of the building, creating a “roof umbrella” which unified the old
and new.28 This roof, having the symbolic import of unification, also served an ecological
function by harvesting and conserving solar energy while aiding a system of natural ventilation
which Foster designed for the building.
Foster and his team were selected to enter the second stage of the competition. Included
in this second stage were also architects Santiago Calatrava and de Brujin. However, in the
second stage, the conditions of the design competition were revamped; most important was that
the design committee wanted a significantly smaller design space of only nine thousand square
meters. Foster’s team tried to adapt their original idea to the new design parameters; however,
they were unable to do so. Every effort tried and failed either due to aesthetic ideal or technical
problems. At the same time, a competition was set in motion for the Spreeborg Area Master
Plan. This competition was the reason that the design committee reduced the size of the
Reichstag design plan. The Spreeborg Area Master Plan discussed and addressed the projection,
location, and planning of the supporting buildings which would house various government
departments. These buildings would be filled as the German government gradually relocated
back to Berlin. A German architect, Axel Schultes, produced a “powerful concept diagram that
incorporated a strong east-west link” just north of the Reichstag building.29 David Nelson,
Foster’s supporting partner on the Reichstag design, commented on the change in design
aesthetics.
We just had no alternative but to abandon all our ideas from the first stage, and start again.
It’s important to stress that you should never have too much emotion about a scheme until
it actually becomes the final project. There’s always a danger of falling in love with some
idea, and not being able to kiss it goodbye!30
Thus, Foster re-envisioned the plan of the Reichstag, trying to comprehend how best to construct
a parliament building housing a new government for the whole of the German people. David
Nelson narrates how they came upon their idea by trying to understand for whom the Reichstag
building was being designed.
In the first stage it was the Building Ministry. But it was intended that a new company
eventually be formed to take responsibility not only for the Reichstag, but also for all the
other new government projects in Berlin … [I]ts members are MPs and civil servants and
its purpose is to keep an eye on the developing design. During the second stage we had to
really learn just how the German parliament works. This knowledge was to become
extremely useful.31
In understanding his principle client was the German people (although the building had to
be designed around the workings of the MPs), Foster decided to make the building as publicly
accessible as possible. Foster also decided to remove all ornamentations that had been added to
the Reichstag since World War II. He took away all possible traces of the past, including shell
marks, charred timber, and the graffiti of the Russian occupation.32 He wanted to strip the
building down to its barest elements, reminding citizens of the war but also showing them that
the ideal of democracy survived through this war.
Foster also decided to create a distinctive terminal feature, a feature that would include
natural lighting and combine the ideas of old Berlin and new Berlin. The importance placed on
old and new can be understood in the surrounding nature of Berlin. As the city was combining
ideas of the East and West, and preparing to become the seat of the German people, there was a
massive reorganizing process underway in Berlin. Dramatically modern, new buildings were
being erected adjacent to buildings that dated before World War II. Foster also wanted to
constantly provide a reminder to the German MPs that they should always serve the public
interest. These ideas met with Foster’s obsession with light and the distinctive terminal feature
became a dome, albeit a new envisioning of the idea of a dome. This was a glass structure which
served multiple functions. Nelson recalls:
The idea was to extend the [parliament] chamber through to the roof beyond. Natural light
had always been an important part of our design concept so it was a logical development.
This was to become an integral part of the energy concept as well as fulfilling a symbolic
 role marking the transformation of the Reichstag to New Bundestag. At night the mirrors
which funnel daylight into the chamber would work in reverse—acting as a signal on the
skyline to show that Parliament was in session. There were obvious analogies with
lighthouses and beacons. This solution also combined ramps to a high-level public
viewing platform which worked well with the roof level.33
Foster’s design was dramatic. This dome would funnel light into the building during the daytime.
It would serve a public purpose, allowing for elevated viewing. Moreover, as visitors traveled up
the spiral walkway around the dome, they were circling above the German parliament, reminding
citizens that their democracy was centered in the new Reichstag. There was also a symbolic
feature for the MPs, for while they debated and worked in the building below (and especially in
the Member’s Chamber), the public, the citizens of Germany stood above them; Foster makes the
statement that in a democracy, government should work for the people. This glass dome served
to give the Reichstag a significant, emotional impact.
The Reichstag again embodies Foster’s notion of light and transparency. Above a
weighty and monumental building, Foster suspended a dome which seems to float weightlessly.
It is no ordinary dome; it is completely transparent, hearkening back to Foster’s previous designs
but also suggesting that democracy should be transparent and inviting. The dome, with its use of
reflective glass, also serves as an eye-catching beacon to individuals observing the Berlin
skyline. The original Reichstag building was squat and thick; however, the dome serves to
remind those who view it that the new Reichstag is a very different building.
The building also encompasses Foster’s idea of high-technology, as all of the elements in
the building were computer tested and even the dome was subjected to computer wind
simulations in order to maximize space and minimize excess. The building, and again especially
the dome, includes air extraction and light collection methods. Its power station also burns a
special linseed fuel mixture, based on corn oil, not any sort of fossil fuels, thus minimizing its
energy consumption. In fact, the building serves to power many of the governmental buildings
surrounding it.

The Edge of Reality: Foster’s Design Ideals

I believe that Foster’s design technique, while manifested differently at each site, can be
summarized and concentrated in the form of basic principles.34
Flexibility: Foster believes that it is important to eliminate divisions in buildings. If
architectural divisions are eliminated, Foster argues, then internal divisions will also be
eliminated. Illustrating his ideas, The Commerzbank and Hongkong & Shanghai Bank building
were built so as to eliminate internal structural components and free space. Foster believes that
flexibility is essential to a building, as the myriad roles of life—commercial, residential, and
political—will atrophy if bound by discreet walls. In the commercial world, walls separate
employees and discourage communication; eliminating walls eliminates that separation. In
residential buildings, flexibility allows the resident to choose his own living style, instead of
having that style dictated by the building. The political world requires flexibility in order to adapt
to the continually changing political sphere. A building that is not flexible, Foster believes, is an
obsolete building. In designing buildings for flexibility, Foster places them in a design tradition
that reaches back to Albert Kahn. Kahn built factories which had no internal obstacles—he made
a scientific process of architectural design. Kahn created buildings that serve machines to create
machines. Foster took Kahn’s approach and applied it to different building types.
Light: Foster’s fixation on the element of light is obvious. Foster believes that through
the harnessing and collection of light, individuals living in the modern world relate to nature.
The design of each of Foster’s buildings takes into consideration light and its effects on the
structure. Most of his commercial buildings have a central atrium that draws light to the core of
the building. Foster believes, as demonstrated in the Gamble house in Pasadena, that light has a
healing function, one that keeps individuals sane in a busy, modern world. In each building,
Foster deals with light by a different and innovative method, trying to understand the ways in
which light affects the building and the individual. For example, the louvers in the Kawana
house manipulate light for the owner’s benefit. Alternatively, in the Reichstag, Foster uses light
as a beacon to remind German citizens that the building serves as their democratic center. In
looking at his previous structures, Foster approaches the element of light by a different method in
each building. The Willis-Faber & Dumas building has walls of glass which become transparent
at night, allowing outsiders to see inside. The Hongkong & Shanghai Bank building and the
Century Tower challenge ideas of inside and outside through their large, transparent glass curtain
walls. The Kawana house in Tokyo is structured much like Johnson’s glass house with giant wall
panels of glass, allowing insiders to see out as well as outsiders to view the interior. The
Hongkong & Shanghai Bank has giant light scoops which reflect light into and down the
building.
Layers: Foster seems to believe that a building must affect the observer by presenting
different layers and vistas, sending a direct message. The Reichstag layers public viewing areas
above political buildings to send the message that politics should work to support the citizen. In
many of his commercial buildings, Foster layers curtain walls and structural members to
juxtapose the ideas of opacity (private) and translucency (public)—for commercial enterprises
must balance both public and private aspects. In layering an effect on a building, Foster is able to
put two, often differing ideas adjacent to each other in order to synthesize a whole. The
Reichstag also layers the idea of old and new, symbolizing the recombination of East and West
Germany into a unified whole.
High-tech: Foster believes that in designing his buildings, the most technologically
advanced solution must be considered. He believes that in using high-tech equipment and
pushing the edge of structural engineering, he is able to push the edge of architectural designing.
Using high-tech equipment allows Foster to break through usual paradigms of building and find
solutions, such as pushing structural members to the edge of skyscrapers. Foster also believes
that high-tech buildings are more flexible and radical, and thus more distinctive. A high-tech
building, according to Foster, is also energy efficient. Foster believes that paying attention to the
ecology of a building is highly important, for technology affords the architect methods by which
to design a building more ecologically efficient.

Conclusion

Norman Foster is often described as “the most envied architect in the world.” Foster
certainly deserves this honor, given his long career and the acclaim that many of his buildings
have received. He often ignores the usual trends and traditional methods of architecture and
envisions new solutions to design challenges. I believe that Foster has cultivated this radical
nature in his architectural upbringing, starting with his informal education of Le Corbusier and
continuing through with his graduate education at Yale under Paul Rudolph and Phillip Johnson.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, Norman Foster has designed buildings which are
thoroughly modern and envisioned new paradigms for architectural design. With his innovative
designs and radical ideas, Norman Foster has indelibly stamped his image onto the milieu of
modern architecture.

Endnotes

1
M. Quantrill, The Norman Foster Studio: Consistency Through Diversity (London: E & FN
Spon, 1999), 10.
2
Ibid., 14.
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid., 10.
5
Ibid., 15.
6
Ibid., 20.
7
Stephanie Williams, Hongkong Bank : the Building of Norman Foster’s Masterpiece (Boston:
Little, Brown, 1989), 60.
8
Quantrill, 79.
9
Ibid., 84.
10
Ibid.
11
Williams, 41.
12
Ibid., 36.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid., 43.
15
Ibid., 49.
16
Quantrill, 142.
17
Ibid., 146.
18
Ibid.
19
Ibid., 188.
20
C. Davies and I. Lambot, Commerzbank Frankfurt: Prototype of an Ecological High-Rise
(Boston: Birkhäuser, 1997), 13.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid.
23
Ibid., 18.
24
Ibid.
25
Ibid., 155.
26
Ibid., 158.
27
Quantrill, 164.
28
Stephen Dobney, ed., Norman Foster: Selected and Current Works of Foster and Partners
(Hong Kong: The Images Publishing Group, 1997), 163.
29
Quantrill, 171.
30
Ibid., 172.
31
Ibid.
32
Ibid., 164.
33
Ibid., 172.
34
Inspired by Prof. Dennis Doordan’s course: “20th Century Architecture.”