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In Search of the Global Architect: the Case of Norman Foster (and Partners)
Author(s) -
MCNEILL DONALD
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
international journal of urban and regional research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1468-2427
pISSN - 0309-1317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2005.00602.x
Subject(s) - studio , sociology , style (visual arts) , architecture , humanities , art history , globalization , cabinet (room) , art , visual arts , law , political science
The figure of the global architect is often quoted in public discourse but loosely used. This article focuses on Norman Foster, the prolific British architect, and seeks to examine his successful exploitation of the processes of architectural globalization. Yet it also seeks to unravel the varying meanings of Foster — as ‘creative’ individual, as visual design style, and as architectural practice or firm. To illustrate this, I consider the architect in multiple ways: as an individual creative designer within an increasingly globalized architectural ‘star system’; through his corporeal presence at various stages of project design or commissioning; as the manager and leader of a design process and studio; and through a discussion of the relationship between ‘signature’ and brand, questioning the nature of authorship in contemporary architectural production. L’architecte planétaire est souvent mais imprécisément évoqué dans le discours public. En se consacrant au prolifique architecte britannique Norman Foster; cet article examine son exploitation pertinente des processus de mondialisation architecturale, tout en démêlant les sens que revêt Foster — individu créatif, style de conception visuel, et exercice ou cabinet d’architecte. Pour ce faire, l’homme est observé de plusieurs façons: comme concepteur créatif particulier dans un ‘star system’ d’architectes toujours plus mondialisé; à travers sa présence physique à divers stades de conception ou de réception du projet; en tant que dirigeant et chef de file d’un processus et d’un studio de création; et via une discussion sur le rapport entre ‘signature’ et marque, mettant en doute la paternité des productions architecturales contemporaines.