London, Great Britain
Over the last five decades as head of Foster + Partners, Norman Foster has designed a superb variety of sublime, streamlined objects and products from airplanes, boats, and luxury yachts to office and residential furniture, lighting, airline sitting, kitchens, bathrooms fixtures, windows, door hardware, buses, retail fittings and environments, museum installations, pen holders and office equipment, wind turbines, gas stations, a cable-style bridge—even a children’s playground following his unique design sense to expand the human experience with design solutions that are bold, robust, inventive, vigorously functional, and assuredly pragmatic.
This new book, “Norman Foster—Industrial Design” by architecture critic Christian Narkiewicz-Laine explores the history of Foster’s involvement in industrial design—apart from his celebrated work as one of the leading international architects—from Foster’s early years working for and with Buckminster Fuller to his most recent commissions for London’s famous “gerkin” and Apple Inc.
“Like his mentor, Buckminster Fuller,” Narkiewicz-Laine states, “Foster has combined invention and sustainability as a hallmark in his industrial designed achievements—giving objects and products a true sense of utility, permanence, and relevance.”
Important manufacturers of Foster’s designs include: Dassault Aviation S.A., Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, Stelton A/S., Apple Inc., Steelcase, Inc., Aston Martin, Louis Poulsen Lighting A/S., Walter Knoll AG & Co. KG., Dada, Molteni & C SpA., Hoesch Design GmbH., Fr. Lürssen Werft GmbH & Co.KG., Poltrona Frau SpA., Navi SpA., Molteni & C SpA., Artemide SpA., Tecno SpA., helit innovative Büroprodukte GmbH., Respol S.A., ENEL Power Pylons, Terna SpA., and Cartier S.A.
Three of Foster’s product designs have been awarded the prestigious Good Design Award: the Emeco 20-60 Chair (2006) in 2007; the Steelcase Dash LED Task Light (2010) in 2010; and the DOT Lumina Pendant Light (2016) in 2017.
Like Foster’s architecture, his industrial and product designs are always innovative while their engineering is achieved by working with the world’s best structural and services engineers.
In 1999, Norman Foster was awarded The American Prize for Architecture by Chicago Athenaeum. In 2018, Foster was awarded The American Prize for Design by The Chicago Athenaeum for his industrial designs.
The book is available to order through Metropolitan Arts Press Ltd. www.metropolitanartspress.com and costs 75 Euros.
