This biography details Norman Foster, a renowned British architect born in 1935 in Manchester, England. He received degrees in architecture from Manchester University and Yale University. Foster worked on urban planning projects in the US before founding Foster Associates (now Foster + Partners) in 1963. Notable projects include the HSBC Headquarters in Hong Kong, Stansted Airport in London, and the Swiss Re Tower in London. Foster is motivated by invention and questioning traditional approaches to design problems. He strives to push design boundaries with each building.

2. BIOGRAPHY:
 BORN-1935 ,MANCHESTER,ENGLAND..
 WIFE-WENDY FOSTER
 EDUCATION- ARCHITECTURE & CITY PLANNING(MANCHESTER
UNIVERSITY)IN 1961 HE WAS AWARDED A HENRY FELLOWSHIP TO YALE
UNIVERSITY & COMPLETED MASTER DEGREE.
 PROFESSION- HE WORKED ON URBAN RENEWAL & MASTER
PLANNING PROJECTS ON THE EAST & WEST COASTS OF THE
USA BEFORE STARTING HIS OWN PRACTICE IN 1963 & ESTABLISHED
FOSTER ASSOCIATES & NOW KNOWN AS FOSTER & PARTNERS .
 HE WAS VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION .
 AWARDS- ROYAL GOLD MEDAL IN 1983
QUEEN’S HONOURS LIST IN 1990
AIA GOLD MEDAL IN 1994
THE PRITZKER PRIZE, 1999

3. PHILOSOPHY-
 -HE CONFESSES TO BEING OBSESSED WITH INVENTION. PART OF
THIS OBSESSION IS A FASCINATION WITH INQUIRY—WITH
“GOING BACK TO BASICS”.
--HE SAYS, “I HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES
OF A PROBLEM IN ORDER TO QUESTION THE TRADITIONAL
RESPONSE & IDENTIFY IF THERE IS A OPPORTUNITY TO INVENT OR
RE-INVENT A SOLUTION.
--“I DESIGN BUILDINGS IN THE HOPE THAT THEY TAKE FORWARD
THE BOUNDARIES OF KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE OF EACH
PARTICULAR BUILDING TYPE.
--THE NATURE OF DESIGN— WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE THE
APPEARANCE, FEEL OR WORKINGS OF A BUILDING—THE EXPERIENCE
OF SPACES, INSIDE OR OUTSIDE, DESERTED OR INHABITED, INVOLVES
ALL OF OUR SENSES.

5. SWISS RE TOWERS
London, England, UK
2000 to 2004
commercial office tower, skyscraper
glass cladding
temperate
urban
High Tech Modern
Location
Date
Building Type
Construction System
Climate
Context
Style

6. SWISS RE TOWERS
•The 590-foot- (180-meter-)
high, 40-story, 76,400-square-
meter Swiss Re Tower is said
to be London's first
environmental skyscraper.
• Its aerodynamic, glazed
shape minimizes wind loads
and maximizes natural light
and ventilation, reducing the
building's energy consumption
to 50 percent of that of a
traditional large office building.
• As a working environment, it
offers unequalled views of the
surrounding city.

7. SWISS RE TOWERS
Architect's sketch of London's
distinctive new Swiss Re Tower, at
30 St. Mary Axe,

8. Building details
The external diagonal steel structure
uses triangular forms to be inherently
strong, permitting a flexible column-
free interior space.
The building's height was made
feasible by the use of a peripheral
"diagrid," in which all the steel
elements subtly interlock.
The exterior cladding consists of
approximately 5,500 flat triangular
and diamond-shaped glass panels,
which vary in size at each level.

9. Building details
The envelope at the office areas
consists of a double-glazed outer
layer and a single-glazed inner
screen that sandwich a central,
ventilated cavity containing solar-
control blinds.
These cavities act as buffer zones
to reduce the need for
mechanical heating and cooling
and are ventilated by exhaust air
drawn from the offices

10. Building details
• "Windows in the light wells open
automatically to augment the air
conditioning system with natural
ventilation, an occurrence anticipated to
save energy for up to 40% of the year.
• The floor plans are shaped like flowers,
with a circular perimeter indented by 6
triangular light courts. The indentations
remain a constant size at each level,
while the space between them
diminishes.
• The floor plan is rotated for each
successive floor, creating a series of
spiraling 5-storey atria that stretch the full
height of the building."

11. VIEWS OF SWISS RE TOWERS

13. STANSTED AIRPORT
Location: London, England, UK.
Date: 1991
Building Type: Airport
Construction System: Steel Frame
Climate: Mild Temperature
Context: Urban
Style: High Tech Modern
The Creator's Words:
"The design of the new terminal at Stansted Airport has been influenced by two
important factors. The first is the opportunity, in the context of a new site, to
reconsider the configuration of an airport building from first principles. The
second is the relationship of the building to its surroundings."

14. STANSTED AIRPORT
•Sectional View.
•.Site Plan

15. STANSTED AIRPORT
Features a
"floating" roof,
supported by a
space frame of
inverted-pyramid
roof trusses,
creating the
impression of a
stylized swan in
flight

16. STANSTED AIRPORT
The base of each truss structure is a "utility pillar", which provides
indirect up lighting illumination and is the location for air-
conditioning and water, telecommunications, and electrical outlets

17. STANSTED AIRPORT
The layout of the airport is
designed to provide an
unobstructed flow for
passengers to arrive at the
short-stay car park, move
through the check-in hall
and on to the departure
gates all on the same level

18. HONGKONG & SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION
HEADQUARTERS

19. HSBC HEADQUARTERS
LOCATION-
HONGKONG,CHINA.
TIME- 1979-1985
BUILDING TYPE-
COMMERCIAL OFFICE.
AREA- 99000 SQ. MTRS.
STRUCTURE- STEEL,CONCRETE
BASEMENTS
MATERIALS-STEEL,
ALUMINIUM CLADING &
PARTIONS, GLASS, STAIN STEEL
FINISHES,MARBLE,
STONE/CARPET RAISED FLOOR.
CONTEXT-URBAN.
STYLE- MODERN

20. DETAILS-HSBC
THE CLIENT’S BRIEF TO
FOSTER ASSOCIATES, AFTER
THEY HAD WON THE
COMMISSION IN 1979, WAS
QUITE CATEGORICAL:
WHAT WAS REQUIRED WAS
NOTHING LESS THAN THE
BEST BANK IN THE WORLD.
THE SITE ,AT THE HEAD OF
STATUE SQUARE, IS ONE OF
THE MOST SPECTACULAR
IN HONGKONG.

21. DETAILS- HSBC
THE EXTERIOR IS A VIGOROUSLY MODELLED
COMBINATION OF ALUMINIUM-CLAD STRUCTURE
AND TRANSPARENT PANELS TO EXPRESS THE RICH
MIXTURE OF SPACES WITHIN.

22. DETAILS- HSBC
 THE BANK BUILDING
HAS A PUBLIC BASE, A
PRIVATE SUMMIT & A
CENTRAL SECTION COMPOSED
OF SEMI PRIVATE & SEMI
PUBLIC SPACE.
 THE MAIN BODY OF THE BANK
IS REACHED BY 3 SETS OF LIFT.
 VISITORS ARE SET-DOWN AT
EACH OF THE DOUBLE HEIGHT
LEVEL AND COMPLETE THEIR
JOURNEY BY ESCALATOR.

23. DETAILS-HSBC
 AT STREET LEVEL, A
12 METRE-HIGH
PUBLIC PEDESTRIAN
CONCOURSE RUNS
CLEAR BENEATH
THE BUILDING,
 A PAIR OF
ESCALATORS RISE-
UP TO THE MAIN
BANKING HALL, ITS
10-STORY ATRIUM.
GROUND FLOOR PLAZA PLAN

24. DETAILS- HSBC
PLAN OF CHAIRMAN’S APARTMENT WITH MAINTENANCE
CRANES.

25. DETAILS- HSBC
 CHAIRMAN’S APARTMENT
TOP OF BANK
 LEVEL 34 EXECUTIVE SUITE

26. DETAILS – HSBC
THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE
SPACES WITHIN THE BANK
ALLOWED ITS ENTIRE
POPULATION TO
RELOCATE SEVERAL TIMES.
STRUCTURE DETAIL-

27. CHRONOLOGY-
RELIANCE CONTROLS LIMITED, SWINDON, 1965-1966
HONGKONG & SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION,1979-1985
LONDON’S THIRD AIRPORT, STANSTED, ESSEX, 1981-1991
AMERICAN AIR MUSEUM, DUXFORD, 1987-1997
KANSAI AIRPORT, JAPAN, 1988.
TELECOMMUNICATION TOWER, BARCELONA,SPAIN, 1988-1992
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE,CAMBRIDGE, 1990-1995.
NEW GERMAN PARLIAMENT, REICHSTAG,GERMANY,1992-1999.
MILLAU BRIDGE, MILLAU, FRANCE, 1993-
MILLENNIUM BRIDGE,LONDON, 1996-

28. BIBLIOGRAPHY-
BOOKS-
THE MASTER ARCHITECT SERIES-II,NORMAN FOSTER.
NORMAN FOSTER WORKS 2
WEBSITES-
WWW.GREATBUILDINGS.COM
WWW.ARCSPACE.COM