We found a dozen people who’d worked with Foster or his former partner Richard Rogers on their way to becoming celebrated architects in their own right, and asked them what they’d learned from following the way of the lords
40 years of Foster … and 40 years since the break-up of Team 4, the practice that brought together Foster and Richard Rogers
My time at Fosters gave me confidence in technology and innovation. At RRP, I learned how to maintain the design concept through the construction process
Chris Wilkinson, Wilkinson Eyre Foster + Partners 1973-1975
Richard Rogers Partnership 1979-1983
Legibility and the clear expression of structure and service, and a strong, shared sense of the added value that good architecture can bring, not only to the building project and client, but to the public realm
Hal Currey, FLACQ
RRP 1992-1999
If you work with someone you change your view, because you learn; whether it’s a colleague or a client, you always learn. It’s not a straightforward equation; you develop your own way forward. I’m very pleased for having had that opportunity, because it was a magnificent experience. I loved the people I was working with, but you are only an architect if you are different to other people. People would be really shocked if I started copying what Richard did. Although, some might think there are similarities in our work
Eva Jiricna, Eva Jiricna Architects
RRP 1981-1984
Architecture is ultimately about people, not buildings; clients, consultants, colleagues and finally the users of the spaces we create. Turning strong ideas into successful architecture is never a single-handed race. Richard always acknowledged architecture was a collaborative activity
James Finestone, FLACQ
RRP 1990-2005
For me, the clarity of the building’s “diagram” remains key. I learned that the way buildings were conceived both structurally and organisationally was disciplined by the rigour of this approach and should always be clearly expressed. Maybe there’s still room for some wit, though, and, yes, primary colours are probably a thing of the past …
Marcus Lee, FLACQ
RRP 1982-2003
What did I learn? Everything. I went there as an apprentice, so these were my formative years. There was this exploration of the space, how to put buildings together, looking beyond the brief … And vision, future, thinking of the impossible and delivering it. The Rogers’ philosophy has underpinned my work in many ways, particularly the drive for a public sort of architecture and how it fits contextually; the implementation of modernism into the existing city
Philip Gumuchdjian, Gumuchdjian Architects
RRP 1980-1998
The best thing Rogers did was to smash the post-war functionalist planning orthodoxy that was putting everyone into straitjackets. He started putting architecture into politics. Now we’re doing low-rise, high-density urbanism, which wasn’t possible in the immediate post-war period. You weren’t allowed to put people close together. Pulling buildings apart resulted in these big patches of grass and concrete and burnt out cars and garages that you get in inter-war and post-war housing schemes. you couldn’t really design streets Until Rogers did his taskforce
Peter Barber, Peter Barber Architects
RRP 1994-1995
It’s probably more about learning how to think in first principles than imposing a style. It was to do with thinking about a problem from its beginnings rather than imposing solutions. and really a joy in drawing – that’s something I really got out of it
Kim Quazi, FLACQ
RRP 1990-1997
The pursuit of quality and excellence. To never give up searching for the best quality, to get the best possible design. Never to sit back and say ‘that’s good enough’. always trying to do better. The environment in which Norman worked, in which we all worked together, was very inspiring
Ken Shuttleworth, Make
Foster + Partners 1974-2004
Taking ideas to an extreme, exploring the limits of what you can do and doing that by going outside the construction industry and working with designers from other fields, transferring technologies across boundaries. And doing it all with a social purpose in mind
David Morley, David Morley Architects
Foster + Partners 1976-1988
I learned to balance exciting innovation with commercial and technological pragmatism, to understand and enjoy materials and technologies so that they can inform design solutions, as well as respond to them, to apply a rigorous design process and to collaborate by engaging the specialist knowledge of others
John Silver, Hamiltons Associates
Foster + Partners 1984-2004
In no particular order: how to think laterally, problem-solving without confrontation, how to analyse and understand a site, a client and an opportunity, how to get the best out of those you work with and make the process enjoyable, how important it is to understand the spirit of an evolving concept and an ability to spot a good idea regardless of its source … But Fosters gave me so much more – an enthusiasm and passion for what I do, together with an insatiable appetite to learn how things are made and to use that knowledge to inform the design process. To summarise, probably the best architectural finishing school that you could wish for
Robin Partington, Hamiltons Associates
Foster + Partners 1984-2001
Postscript
Photographs by David Levene
40 years of Foster
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12 disciples
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