norman foster

Just as the ancients found inspiration for their art in the elements of nature, we—both materially and spiritually artificial—must find that inspiration in the elements of the brand-new mechanical world we have created, of which architecture must be the most beautiful expression, the most complete synthesis, the most effective artistic integration.

This fragment from the Manifesto of Futurist Architecture was published by Sant’Elia and Marinetti in 1914 and, therefore, can only be applied to Norman Foster as a premonition.

However, the comparison proposed by the Futurists between these two sources of inspiration offers us the key to understanding important aspects of Norman Foster’s architecture: his willingness to respond to the new demands of society through forms and techniques drawn from the most advanced industries of our time, and the sensitivity and precision with which these techniques have been used as elements of architectural language, thereby providing modern architecture with a new expression.

The mechanism by which the materials of a building become signs, and construction techniques become syntactic rules, was already present in the origins of classical architecture. Yet, Norman Foster deserves credit for having found a suitable representation of contemporary architecture, of its materials and its techniques.

His work embodies the synthesis of various earlier positions and proposals: the 19th-century tradition of steel and glass construction; organicism in its search for harmony between form and structure; and the technological interpretation of architecture, along with the “non-compositional” proposals developed in the 1950s. In it, we can detect the presence of Brunel and Paxton, of Mies and Fuller, and also of Kahn and Wright, to name only the most evident. His is, therefore, an architecture firmly rooted in the tradition of the Modern Movement, representing one of its most important tendencies: that in which structure becomes the principal reason for the building’s overall compositional system, and construction systems become the syntagms of modern architectural language.

For all these reasons, Norman Foster’s body of work is one of the most significant points of reference in architecture in the second half of the 20th century. Those of us who trained during this period could not escape the power of the architectural ideas developed by him: the rational reinterpretation of each new building’s program, beyond pre-established premises; dry construction techniques; frameless glass facades, suspended directly from the structure; the grouping of diverse functions under a single “umbrella” roof; the use of both vertical and horizontal enclosures as containers of all building services; and the application of the most advanced contemporary technologies—such as aerospace—for use in construction.

The Polytechnic University of Valencia is honored to incorporate into its Faculty, at the proposal of the School of Architecture and the Department of Architectural Projects, the architect Norman Foster. In doing so, it recognizes—and, to some extent, makes its own—contributions to the world of architectural culture that have not remained solely in the realm of theoretical proposals or partial achievements, but have materialized in beautiful buildings that are now found all over the world.

In this necessarily brief laudatio of Professor Norman Foster, which I have been entrusted to deliver on the Solemn Occasion of his Conferment as Doctor Honoris Causa, it is absolutely impossible for me to analyze, or even enumerate, a body of work that began in 1963 with a semi-buried shelter in Cornwall and culminates, for the moment, in the telecommunications tower in Barcelona’s Collserola Park. However, I must mention here a select group of buildings without which the architecture of our time would be impossible to understand:

The Headquarters of Willis, Faber & Dumas in Ipswich (1973/74), where Foster reinterprets the Miesian ideal of the glass-clad office building organized on an open plan. For this project, he developed glass panel systems suspended directly from the floor slabs and joined by silicone joints, which were later commercialized.

The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (1974/78): a container building of 6,200 square meters housing an art school, a restaurant, exhibition spaces, small studios and laboratories. Only three types of panels were used in its construction: glass, aluminum sheets, and aluminum mesh, along with a large tubular structure, which together form a deep skin capable of housing all types of technical installations and serving as a true service space for the entire building.

The Headquarters of the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation in Hong Kong (1979/86), Foster’s contribution to the skyscraper typology. Here, the center of the floor plan—traditionally reserved for services and communications due to its lack of natural light—has been transformed into a multi-height space for interaction or into well-lit office spaces. Services and communications are attached to the building’s external skin. The structure, visible both inside and out, becomes the generative system of the composition, establishing a technological giant order that defines the scale of the building.

The Renault U.K. Distribution Center in Swindon (1982/83), where Foster once again demonstrates how an apparently secondary subject can serve as the basis for excellent architecture.

London’s Third Airport at Stansted (1981/85), where the lightness of the structure, the use of construction systems derived from aviation, the separation by floors of service and served spaces, and the integration with both the natural and artificial landscape become a poetic metaphor of architectural content.

And the Telecommunications Tower in Barcelona (1988/92), an enormous structure designed to symbolize new technology and to respect the natural environment, both during its construction and in its final implementation.

Fortunately, Norman Foster’s work has been internationally recognized from the very beginning: critics and theorists of Modern Architecture have paid special attention to evaluating his work; specialized journals have repeatedly published his projects and buildings; and organizations around the world have awarded him numerous prizes.

Without listing all his awards and medals, I must recall that Sir Norman Foster holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Bath, East Anglia, and Humberside; he is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers, the International Academy of Architecture in Sofia, the American Institute of Architects, and the Bund Deutscher Architekten.

Perhaps, however, the most fitting image of the new Doctor Honoris Causa of the Polytechnic University of Valencia is the phrase with which Kenneth Frampton concluded his presentation of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award:

“…with you, Sir Norman Foster, architect and poet of construction.”