Lord Norman Foster opened his new archive and international research center in Madrid to encourage future designers to address critical issues such as climate change.
“The British-born, Pritzker prize winning architect, Norman Foster, opens his archive and an international research centre on Thursday, 1 June, housed in a palatial building in Madrid. The new Spanish headquarters of the Norman Foster Foundation is a historic building that has been restored and expanded by the architect. He has designed a glass and steel ‘pavilion of inspiration’ in the courtyard, leading to a basement filled with his archive, library plus photography and slide collection. The sleek new structure is shaded by sculptural canopy created by the Spanish artist Cristina Iglesias in collaboration with the architect.
Among the hundreds of his architectural drawings as well as detailed models of Foster + Partners’ work on show, are works of art drawn from the architect’s collection and that of his Spanish-born wife, Elena Ochoa Foster, the founder of art publisher Ivory Press. For example, a large-scale model of Foster + Partner’s Beijing airport terminal hangs on the wall of the grand staircase alongside a sculpture by Brancusi and a Chinese figure by Juan Muñoz. On a meeting table sits a large, wooden hexagonal sculpture by Ai Weiwei, a gift of the Chinese artist and architect.” – Javier Pes, The Arts Newspaper
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Norman Foster Unites His Archives and Art Under One Roof, The Arts Newspaper