Meeting the Visionary Norman Foster Through the Centre Pompidou’s New Exhibition
Leader of the “High Tech” movement, a figurehead for sustainable urbanism and a fervent advocate for the environment, Norman Foster is one of the greatest architects of our time. His pioneering holistic approach, which strives for harmony between nature and existing architecture, allows his constructions to blend naturally into the urban tissue of many of the world’s greatest metropolis and earned him the Pritzker Prize in 1999. The Centre Pompidou is now also paying tribute to the English architect and his brilliant career with its latest exhibition. Curated by Frédéric Migayrou, this retrospective is also exceptional and innovative, as it is the first large exhibition devoted to a living architect.
The eponymous exhibition offers a broad overview of Norman Foster’s work through original scare models, dioramas, prototypes, videos and a large book of drawings – a crucial element for grasping the core of Foster’s œuvre. 60 years of his career are thus displayed at the Galerie 1 on level 6 of the Centre Pompidou, quite an appropriate venue for the occasion given that the building is representative of the High Tech movement. Explored through 130 major projects and structured around the prism of seven major themes, this is a unique opportunity to plunge into Foster’s universe. During the opening evening, we met JR, Jack Lang, Michael Bloomberg, Jean Nouvel, JR, Dominique Perrault, Rima Abdul Malak and Thaddaeus Ropac, among many others.
Photos: Michael Huard
