england in 1935.

his father was a shop manager in a poor area

of manchester, later a sucurity guard and a

manual worker in a factory. his parents sent him

to a private school and grammar school.

there was a strong work ethic and pressure to

leave school early and be a wage earner and

foster worked for two years in the city treasurer’s

office, studied commercial law, before leaving

for national service in the royal air force.

at this time he was developing a growing interest

in architecture. when he came out of the air force

he worked in a bakery, sold furniture, worked in a

factory… after graduating from manchester

university school of architecture and city planning

in 1961, which he entered at age 21, he won a

fellowship to yale university wherehe gained a

masters degree in architecture and where he got

to know richard rogers. they became very close

friends and in 1963 he worked with him and sue

rogers, gorgie wolton and his wife, wendy foster,

as a member of ‘team 4’ until foster associates was

found in 1967 (now known as foster and partners).

since its inception the practice has received

more than 190 awards and citations for excellence

and has won over 50 national and international

competitions.

1968 – 1983 cooperation with buckminster fuller

on a number of projects.

foster was awarded the RIBA royal gold medal in

1983, and in 1990 the RIBA trustees medal was

made for the willis faber dumas building.

he was knighted in 1990, and recieved the gold

medal of the AIA in 1994.

he was appointed officer of the order of the arts

and letters by the ministry of culture in france

in 1994.

it was announced in the queen’s birthday honours

list on 12 June 1999 that sir norman foster has

been honoured with a life peerage, taking the title

lord foster of thames bank.

and in the same year he was awarded the

prestigious 21st pritzker architecture prize laureate

– considered the nobel prize of architecture.

his remarkable buildings and urban projects

have transformed cityscapes, renewed transportation

systems and restored city centres all over the world.

many of these aesthetically and technologically

groundbreaking projects are based on ecology –

conscious concepts, setting new standards for the

interaction of buildings with their environment.

among his recent projects are some of the most

remarkable architectural projects of the last years,

including the reconstruction of the reichstag in berlin,

the design of the great court at the british museum

in london, the millennium bridge (the first new thames

crossing for more than 100 years), and the new

hong kong international airport – the world’s largest

airport terminal.

projects

1964 – 1966 creek vean house

1965 – 1966 skybreak house

1965 – 1966 reliance controls electronics factory

1969 – 1970 air-supported offices

1970 – 1971 IBM pilot head office

1970 – 1974 willis faber and dumas head office

1970 – 1972 special care unit

1968 – 1970 fred olsen amenity centre

1969 – 1970 fred olsen passenger terminal

1972 – 1973 factory for SAPA

1972 orange hand shop

1973 – 1976 palmerston special school

1974 housing and offices for fred olsen ltd

1974 – 1977 sainsbury centre for visual arts

1975 gomera regional planning studies

1975 – 1980 IBM technical park

1978 shop for joseph

1979 – 1986 hongkong and shanghai bank

1980 – 1982 renault distribution centre

1980 – 1991 london’s third airport, stansted

1981 athletics stadium frankfurt

1982 BBC radio headquarters

1985 – 1991 sackler galleries

1986 – 1990 riverside apartments and studio

1986 – 1987 shop for katharine hamnett

1986 televisa headquarters

1987 – 1991 century tower

1987 – 1997 american air museum

1987 king’s cross masterplan

1987 – 1989 stockley park offices

1988 city of london heliport

1988 shop for esprit

1988 – 1991 crescent wing, sainsbury centre for visual arts

1988 – 1995 bilbao metro

1988 – 1992 telecommunications tower

1988 – 1990 ITN headquarters

1988 – 1993 business promotion centre

1988 – 1993 telematic centre

1988 – 1996 microelectronic centre

1989 millennium tower tokyo

1989 – 1992 cranfield university library

1990 shinagawa

1990 – 1995 faculty of law, university of cambridge

1991 sagrera masterplan

1991 – inner harbour masterplan

1991 – 1992 shops and franchises for cacharel

1991 – 1993 lycée albert camus

1991 – 1993 offices for obunsha

1991 – 1996 agiplan headquarters

1991 – 1997 commerzbank headquarters

1991 – 1999 canary wharf station

1992 musée de la prehistoire

1992 tower place

1992 – 1993 marine simulator centre

1992 – 1994 joslyn art museum

1992 – 1994 solar electric vehicle

1992 – 1996 offices for electricité de france

1992 – 1997 design centre, london

1992 – 1997 kowloon canton railway terminal

1992 – 1998 HACTL superterminal and express centre

1992 – 1998 hong kong international airport

1992 – 1999 new german parliament (reichstag, berlin)

1993 – 1995 forth valley community village

1993 – 1998 valencia congress centre

1993 al faisaliah complex

1993 holborn place

1993 millau viaduct

1994 grande stade olympic stadium

1994 – 1998 sir alexander fleming building, imperial college

1994 great court, british museum

1994 – 1995 sealife centre

1994 – 1998 faculty of management

1995 arsta bridge

1995 daewoo electronics headquarters

1995 – 1997 SECC sonference centre

1995 LIFFE headquarters

1995 – 2000 national botanic garden of wales

1995 – 1998 ASPIRE national training centre

1995 world port centre, rotterdam

1995 medical research laboratory stanford university

1995 – 1998 greenwich transport interchange

1996 london millennium tower

1996 prado museum extension

1996 wembley stadium masterplan

1996 – 2000 london millennium bridge

1996 – 2000 citibank headquarters

1996 world squares for all

1996 oxford university library

1998 the music centre, gateshead

1999 kingswood, ascot

1999 greater london authority

1999 swiss re headquarters

norman foster has lectured throughout the world and has

taught architecture in the united kingdom and the usa.

he has recently accepted a post-graduate visiting professorship

at university college, bartlett school in london.

Other sources :

http://www.fosterandpartners.com

greatbuildings.com

archinform.net