Leader of High-Tech, who made the beauty of engineering into architecture
An English architect, leader of "High-Tech" architecture. He argues for honestly, even proudly, exposing and displaying a building’s structure, services, and engineering, so the precise steel, glass, and machinery themselves become the beauty of the building. His work is known for engineering precision, transparent daylight, and high energy efficiency: the HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong bares its structural frame entirely; London’s City Hall and the "Gherkin" combine streamlined form with energy saving; the rebuilt Reichstag in Berlin was topped with a glass dome the public can climb, a symbol of transparent politics. He fused the engineer’s reason with the architect’s aesthetic, at the head of one of the most prolific and far-reaching firms of our time.
When Foster rebuilt the Reichstag in Berlin, he topped it with a huge glass dome, up which the public can walk along a spiral ramp, looking down on the parliament chamber in session below. This is not only form: it is a political statement — the people stand above the legislators, watching them through glass, a symbol that power must be transparent to the public. Foster fused engineering, aesthetics, and the idea of democracy in one dome.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.