Black Sheep Come Home

Sir Norman Foster (Also known as the Baron Foster of Thames Bank), The Mozart of Modernism, was on Charlie Rose tonight. Why do I know that? For the sake of my wallet, sanity and soul, I have decided to stay in on a Friday night for the first time in about 3 months.

http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/6986

For the most part, the interview was pretty softball, as most interviews of this nature are. It’s not the blatant pandering you get in the New Yorker, but the tone is something more akin to “How I Spent My Summer Vacation”.

That being said, it’s easy to be impressed with the ego-less nature of Foster, and Charlie Rose at least credits this to his roots. The documentary “How Much Does Your Building Weigh Mr. Foster?” paints him as a local boy who makes good, which while both diplomatic and manipulative, is true. You can sense that guile in Foster’s persona and his buildings. This is a man who comes from the school of Hard Knocks, also Yale. Like a much less depressing Jude the Obscure. (pfft. More like Norman the AWESOME)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6N34a8qk0o

A few years ago, I was in London and was lucky enough to stop by the Gherkin.

It’s a building whose simple brilliant design is painfully obvious afterwards. (Like watching The 6th Sense the second time) By using the wind as ventilation, Foster uses the tribulations that come with the development of an urban high-rise (mostly HVAC) to his advantage. The problem becomes the solution.


He pulls the same tactic in the Sperone Westwater scheme


Art Galleries in Elevators. It’s gonna be big.

For my closing – Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia page for the SNF.

“A qualified pilot, Foster flies his own private jet and helicopter between his home above the London offices of Foster + Partners, as well to his homes in France and Switzerland”,

Somehow this movie creeped into my head

Edit: This post has been dedicated to David Z. Sucharski, the man, the myth, the legend.

You should give him a job.

that is all.