Norman Foster Interview: Striving for Simplicity

Quality is an attitude of mind. The great architectural mastermind of our time, Norman Foster here reflects on a long and prosperous career and life with prominent buildings and more than 1, 000 employees all over the world. Foster has always considered technology to be an ally. As a child he was immensely excited by machines and their speed he spent many hours making sketches of and reading about them. He left school at age 16, did National Service for two years, worked different jobs to earn money, but never abandoned his private world of drawing and dreaming. When he discovered that he as an architect could actually do the things that had always excited him, it simply didnt feel like work. Respecting the structure of a city or a place is essential: Ive realized the important links between individual buildings and infrastructure. Architecture has to address the bigger issues and make a difference to the world we live in. Architects cant solve every problem in the world, but what th