Norman Foster was born in Manchester in 1935. He studied Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Manchester. After graduating in 1961, he was awarded the Henry Fellowship to attend Yale University, where he earned a Master’s degree in Architecture.

In 1967, Norman and Wendy Foster founded Foster Associates in the living room of their two-bedroom flat. Between 1967 and 1971, they employed between 10 and 20 people.

Norman Foster worked with R. Buckminster Fuller on a series of projects between 1968 and 1983. Twenty-five years later, in 1992, Foster Associates became Sir Norman Foster and Partners, an international firm whose work has received, since its inception, more than 60 awards and distinctions for its excellence and has won 14 international design competitions. Currently, it has offices in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Nîmes and Tokyo, and employs 180 architects, designers, model makers and their respective teams.

In 1983, Norman Foster was awarded the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture and in 1990 he was knighted during the Queen’s birthday celebration.

In 1991, he received the Mies van der Rohe Award for European Architecture, the Gold Medal from the French Academy of Architecture and an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London. More recently, he received the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York.

Norman Foster is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London; an honorary member of the Bund Deutscher Architekten; a member of the International Academy of Architects, Sofia; a council member of the Royal College of Art; holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Bath, East Anglia and Humberside; and has been awarded the Japanese Design Foundation Prize and the Kunstpreis awarded by the Academie der Kunst in Berlin. He is a fellow of the Académie Royale de Belgique and a member of the Ordre d’Architectes Français.

Norman Foster has lectured worldwide and has taught architecture in the UK and the USA. He has served as Vice President of the Architectural Association in London and is a member of the education council and an examining professor at the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Major buildings include the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation headquarters in Hong Kong, the Sackler Galleries at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, London’s third international airport, Stansted, the Century Tower in Tokyo, the Collserola Tower and the Carré d’Art (art gallery and cultural centre) in Nîmes.

Planned projects include developments in King’s Cross and Greenwich in London, Nîmes and Cannes in France, Berlin, Duisburg and Lüdenscheid in Germany, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Early works include the award-winning Willis Faber & Dumas headquarters in Ipswich, England, and the Renault Centre in Swindon.

Recent projects include the new Commerzbank headquarters in Frankfurt, the new Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong — the world’s largest project, covering an area of 1,248 hectares — and the Musée de la Préhistoire in Gorges du Verdon, France. Single-family homes are under construction in Corsica, Germany, Japan and Paris. New lines of furniture for Tecno of Milan continue to be designed.

The work of Sir Norman Foster & Partners has been exhibited in London, New York, Paris, Lyon, Tokyo, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Venice and Milan. Their projects are represented in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

Awards

1964 Award for Architectural Design Project – Waterfront Housing, Cornwall.

1965 Award for Architectural Design Project – Housing Couln, Surrey.

1966 Award for Architectural Design Project – Reliance Controls Ltd., Swindon.

1967 Financial Times Award for Industrial Architecture – Reliance Controls Ltd., Swindon.

1969 Award for Architectural Design Project – Fred Olsen Centre, Millwall Docks. – Royal Institute of British Architects Award – Creek Vean, Cornwall.

1970 Financial Times Award for Industrial Architecture – Fred Olsen Centre, Millwall Docks.

1971 Financial Times Award for Industrial Architecture – Computer Technology Ltd.

1972 Structural Steel Award – IBM (UK) Limited, Cosham. – Royal Institute of British Architects Award – IBM (UK) Limited, Cosham.

1974 Financial Times Award for Industrial Architecture – Modern Art Glass Ltd., Thamesmead.

1976 R.S. Reynolds Memorial Award – Willis Faber HQ. – International Architecture Award – School for Disabled Children, Liverpool. – Economy and Industry Award for Environmental Conservation – Willis Faber and Dumas Ltd., Ipswich.

1977 Royal Institute of British Architects Award – Willis Faber and Dumas Ltd., Ipswich. – Royal Institute of British Architects Award – School for Disabled Children, Liverpool.

1978 Structural Steel Award – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich. – Royal Institute of British Architects Award – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich.

1979 Winner of the International Competition to design the Hong Kong Bank Headquarters, Hong Kong. – Tourism Office Award – Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich. – R.S. Reynolds Memorial Award – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich.

1980 Mention in Structural Steel Award – IBM (UK) Limited, Greenford. – Museum of the Year Award – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich. – Ambrose Congreve Award – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich. – Sixth International Architecture Prize, Brussels – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich.

1981 Winner of the International Competition for the National Indoor Athletics Stadium, Frankfurt. – Financial Times Award for Industrial Architecture – IBM (UK) Limited, Greenford. – Commendation from the Royal Institute of British Architects – IBM (UK) Limited, Greenford.

1982 Winner of the International Competition – BBC Headquarters, London.

1983 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture. – Royal Academy’s Premier Architecture Award, London – Hong Kong Bank.

1984 Winner of the International Competition to design the Contemporary Arts Centre in Nîmes, France. – Honourable Mention for the Auguste Perret Award for Technology Applied in Architecture. – Financial Times Architecture at Work Award – Renault Centre. – Civic Trust Award – Renault Centre, Swindon.

1986 Special Award from the Institution of Structural Engineers – Hong Kong Bank. – Structural Steel Award – Hong Kong Bank. – Marble Architectural Award – Hong Kong Bank. – R.S. Reynolds Memorial Award granted by the AIA – Hong Kong Bank. – First European Award for Industrial Architecture, Hanover – Renault Centre.

1987 Winner of the International Competition for the King’s Cross Macroproject, London. – Japanese Design Foundation Award. – Stuttgart Design Centre Award – Nomos Furniture by Tecno, Milan, Italy. – Compasso d’Oro Award – Nomos Furniture by Tecno.

1988 Annual Interiors Award (USA) – Esprit shop, London. – PA Innovations Award. – Quaternary Award for Innovative Technology in Architecture – Hong Kong Bank. – Winner of the International Competition for the Bilbao Metro, Spain. – Winner of the International Competition for the Olympic Tower, Barcelona, Spain.

1989 British Construction Industry Award – Stockley Park, Uxbridge. – Winner of the Competition for the Cranfield Institute of Technology Library, Bedfordshire.

1990 Royal Institute of British Architects Regents Medal – Willis Faber and Dumas, Ipswich. – Winner of the International Competition for the Rennes Viaduct, France. – The Chicago Architecture Award. – Winner of the Competition to build the Law Faculty Library, University of Cambridge.

1991 Gas Energy Management Award – Stansted Airport. – National Childcare Facilities Award – Stansted Airport. – Special Award from the Institution of Structural Engineers – Century Tower. – Economy and Industry Award for Environmental Conservation – Stansted Airport. – Urban Planning Silver Jubilee Award from the Royal Town Planning Institute – Stansted Airport. – Colourcourt Building Award. – First Prize for Stansted Airport Parking and Canopies. – Winner of the International Competition – Commerzbank, Frankfurt. – Winner of the International Competition for Duisburg Inner Harbour Macroproject, Germany. – Winner of the International Competition for the Deuxième Lycée Polyvalent Régional Fréjus, France. – Aluminium Imagination Architecture Award – Stockley Park. – Aluminium Imagination Architecture Award – ITN Headquarters. – Aluminium Imagination Architecture Award – Stansted Airport. – Gold Medal of the French Academy, Paris – Norman Foster. – Mies van der Rohe Prize for European Architecture 1990 – Stansted Airport.

1992 Winner of the International Competition for the Musée de la Préhistoire, Gorges du Verdon, France. – Winner of the International Competition for a new airport at Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. – Nikkel Business Publications New Technology Award – Century Tower. – Lightwight Metal Cladding Association Award – Century Tower. – Mansell Refurbishment Award – Sackler Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts. – English Tourist Board Special Parking Award (Rural Category) – Stansted Airport Parking. – British Council for Offices Best Building of 1992 Award – ITN Headquarters. – Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize awarded by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York to Sir Norman Foster. – Royal Fine Art Commission and Sunday Times Building of the Year Award – Sackler Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts. – Winner of the International Competition for the Annex to the Joslyn Arts Museum, Omaha. – Brunel Award, Madrid – British Rail Station at Stansted. – Institution of Civil Engineers Merit Award – Sackler Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts. – BBC Award, Tokyo – Century Tower. – Alcántara Award for Public Works in Latin American Countries – Barcelona Tower. – Dryline Wall Award – Sackler Galleries. – Concrete Society Award – Stansted Airport. – Royal Institute of British Architects Architecture Award – Crescent Wing, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. – Winner of the International Competition for the Business Park, Berlin. – Interiors Award (USA) – Sackler Galleries. – British Construction Industry Award – Sackler Galleries. – Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Energy Efficiency Award – Stansted Airport. – Structural Steel Award – Stansted Airport. – Structural Steel Award – Sackler Galleries. – Civic Trust Award – Crescent Wing, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. – Civic Trust Award – Stansted Airport. – Interior Lighting Award – Stansted Airport.