It has been at least three years since Norman Foster was last in Hong Kong. “I’m overdue for a visit,” says the renowned British architect, who turns 90 next Sunday.
The Pritzker Prize laureate has a long history with the city. In the mid-1980s, his design for the HSBC headquarters in Central propelled him to international fame, thanks to its innovative modular construction, inside-out structure and early focus on environmental sustainability. In the late 90s, Foster’s design for the Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok set a new benchmark for airport terminals that are bright, spacious and easy to navigate.
Both projects were groundbreaking not just for Hong Kong but internationally. Today, Foster continues to explore and experiment, building on the spirit that led to projects such as Hong Kong’s HSBC HQ and airport.
Porsche chief designer Michael Mauer (left) and Norman Foster at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. Photo: Andrea Pugiotto
“It’s a creative process and it comes out of questioning and challenging, and not being different for the sake of being different,” he says in Venice, Italy, where the 19th Biennale of Architecture opened on May 10 and runs until November 23.
At the biennale Foster unveiled his latest project, a temporary installation created in collaboration with German carmaker Porsche. “Gateway to Venice’s Waterway” is a 37-metre-long pier with an aluminium structure inspired by the lightweight frame of racing cars such as the Porsche 917. Its undulating canopy clad in aluminium panels casts a geometric pattern on the floor of the pier when the sun shines.
Situated in the heart of the Arsenale, a Venetian naval base that opened in 1104, the pier leads visitors to a platform where they can ride a Schiller hydrocycle around the basin. The pier is designed for easy disassembly and reassembly in different locations; digital renderings show it along Venice’s Grand Canal and on the banks of the River Thames in London.
The Foster-designed Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok opened in 1998. Photo: Nora Tam
“It’s an opportunity to explore and experiment,” says Foster. “It’s creating a structure of extraordinary sophistication in terms of the way it has been analysed and manipulated. But it’s also a demonstration that you can go into a DIY shop and buy some absolutely basic sheet aluminium, and by application of blood, sweat and tears, transform those materials into something that has an element of delight and surprise.”
The idea that you can roll buildings off a production line like automobiles has fascinated architects since the Industrial Revolution
