Norman Foster: the greatest projects of the architect at Centre Pompidou

This is a summary of the Wallpaper’s article Ultimate Norman Foster: into the mind of the architect at Centre Pompidou by Shawn Adams.

Sir Norman Foster is one of the most famous architects, widely approved as a leader of modern British architecture. He is mostly recognised as the author of the Apple park in Cupertino, California, Expo MRT Station in Singapore and the restored Reichstag in Berlin. His architectural practice Foster + Partners (founded in 1967) has contributed to more than 150 architectural projects all over the world, including the signature Millenium Bridge in London, UK.

His architectural legacy is now celebrated in Pompidou Centre in Paris, France, with a personal exhibition. It is a persuasive retrospective of his evolution as an artist during a six-decade-long career with a collection of photos, models and sketches, curated by Frédéric Migayrou personally, who is a deputy director of  the Musée national d’art modern. The exhibition occupies more than 2200 sq m of space, and is open to visitors till 7th August 2023.

The logic of the exhibition does not follow a simple timeline. There are seven unique thematic blocks of the space: ‘Nature and Urbanity’, ‘Skin and Bones’, ‘Vertical City’, ‘History and Tradition’, ‘Planning and Place’, ‘Networks and Mobilities’, and ‘Future perspectives’. The majority of drawings and sketches are welcoming the visitors at the very beginning of the exhibition, followed by the personal photographs taken by Sir Foster during his travels.

Then, the projects are presented, with different ways to look at them: the sketch, the model, the screen, that gives the object an extra dimension. Apple Park in California, J.P.Morgan Chase Headquarters in Manhattan, the Zayed National Museum, the Bloomberg Building – there are more than 130 projects in the portfolio of Sir Forster, and there are others planned but not built in the end. The latest have their place at the exhibition as well, including the 1989 Millennium Tower for Tokyo, Japan, and a new design for London’s iconic red buses.

Alongside the homage paid to the biggest influences of Sir Foster (Bernard Rudofsky, Buckminster Fuller, Le Corbusier etc), there is a special place for his ambitions looking towards the future. He is currently working with NASA and aims to utilize drone technology for further projects in Africa.