Innovative, modern and sustainable approach on International projects.Sowwah Island Tower 201, Zayed National Museum, Abu Dhabi, 2016, The Millau Viaduct, Southern France, 2017 (the tallest bridge in the world), The Gherkin, London, 2004.Lord Foster has designed buildings that will characterize cities for decades or even centuries to come. He has designed the building with this in mind, flexibility being a key consideration.” We design with an awareness that circumstances will change – that a building’s context will evolve; it may be used in different ways and will need to incorporate new technologies that we cannot yet predict.”
“For example, our headquarters for the insurance brokers Willis Faber in the 1970s was able to accommodate the shift from typewriters to word processors just a few years later. This was made possible by the provision of a raised access floor – this was revolutionary at the time because such features were confined to computer rooms. Foster says “I hope that these buildings will endure and respond to changes which we can now only imagine. Our work might provide some references from the past for future generations – we have yet to see a complete understanding of the impact of environmental issues on architecture.” “I think you could characterize my approach as deeply respectful of history and also in part inspired by it.
Throughout our rebuilding of the Reichstag we respected the imprints of the past – whether civic vandalism or the graffiti of war – and felt that it should be preserved for future generations. Junctions between old and new were articulated, and where the existing fabric had been repaired it was clearly expressed. The concept for Tower 2 of the World Trade Center is equally driven by this balance between memory and rebirth.
The building occupies a pivotal position at northeast corner of Memorial Park, and its profile reflects this role as a symbolic marker. The tower also has a function, as part of the renewal of the World Trade Center, in regenerating this part of downtown Manhattan. Its street level retail and connections to the WTC transit hub will help to reinvigorate the area with a vitality that is typical of a Manhattan neighborhood.”
