Norman Foster Quotes

• As an architect you design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown.

  Norman Foster

  Badass, Past, Bad Ass

  176 Copy quote

• It takes a lot of effort to make a building look effortless.

  Norman Foster

  Effort, Looks, Building

  96 Copy quote

• Architecture is an expression of values.

  Norman Foster

  Expression, Architecture, Values

  Interview with Max Tholl, www.theeuropean-magazine.com. October 16, 2014.

  95 Copy quote

• If you weren’t an optimist, it would be impossible to be an architect.

  Norman Foster

  Would Be, Impossible, Architect

  96 Copy quote

• The pencil and computer are, if left to their own devices, equally dumb and only as good as the person driving them.

  Norman Foster

  Dumb, Driving, Architecture

  90 Copy quote

• Everything inspires me; sometimes I think I see things others don’t.

  Norman Foster

  Thinking, Inspire, Sometimes

  118 Copy quote

• Since Stonehenge, architects have always been at the cutting edge of technology. And you cant separate technology from the humanistic and spiritual content of a building.

  Norman Foster

  Spiritual, Cutting, Technology

  94 Copy quote

• There's a snobbery at work in architecture. The subject is too often treated as a fine art, delicately wrapped in mumbo-jumbo. In reality, it's an all-embracing discipline taking in science, art, maths, engineering, climate, nature, politics, economics.

  Norman Foster

  Art, Math, Reality

  54 Copy quote

• You cannot separate the buildings out from the infrastructure of cites and the mobility of transit.

  Norman Foster

  Mobility, Citing, Building

  45 Copy quote

• I'm not a creature of habit. I like to find things from unexpected sources.

  Norman Foster

  Unexpected, Habit, Source

  45 Copy quote

• I think you never stop learning.

  Norman Foster

  Thinking, Never Stop Learning

  38 Copy quote

• Our object in life should be to accumulate a great number of grand questions to be asked and resolved in eternity.

  Norman Foster

  Numbers, Eternity, Should

  45 Copy quote

• I am always surprised by how much little emphasis schools of architecture, and indeed, many architects, place on the process of the mating of a building.

  Norman Foster

  School, Littles, Architecture

  Norman Foster, Hyatt Foundation (Los Angeles, Calif.) (1999). “The Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1999: presented to Sir Norman Foster”

  40 Copy quote

• Control is the wrong word. The practice is very much about sharing, and, in any creative practice, some individuals, whether partners or directors, are much closer to certain projects than I could ever be.

  Norman Foster

  Practice, Creative, Directors

  45 Copy quote

• Every time I've flown an aircraft, or visited a steelworks, or watched a panel-beater at work, I've learned something new that can be applied to buildings.

  Norman Foster

  I've Learned, Building, Something New

  "Norman Foster at 75: Norman's conquests". Interview with Jonathan Glancey, www.theguardian.com. June 29, 2010.

  37 Copy quote

• I would never wear anything with a logo. That I really find difficult. It's a frustration that I'll find a nice shirt or something and it's got 50 prints of the logo on it - why do they do this?

  Norman Foster

  Nice, Frustration, Logos

  33 Copy quote

• I was born in 1935, and as far back as I can remember, I was sketching designs. My first subject was an aircraft, which I imagined myself piloting.

  Norman Foster

  Design, Sketching, Firsts

  36 Copy quote

• Manhattan, one of the most moneyed spots on the planet, also has one of the greatest concentrations of people in its skyscrapers. Its also, of course, the place where every architect wants to build his tower.

  Norman Foster

  People, Want, Towers

  26 Copy quote

• I hope that any expansion of London will learn from the planning examples of some of its most desirable areas such as Chelsea, Notting Hill, Belgravia and Mayfair. All are characterised by high density and a generosity of green spaces. They are all pedestrian-friendly with shops, entertainment, restaurants and pubs within easy walking distance.

  Norman Foster

  Distance, Space, Generosity

  24 Copy quote

• I tend to move between turtlenecks and shirts and ties. I don't really have a uniform in the sense that some people might.

  Norman Foster

  Moving, Ties, People

  17 Copy quote

• Didn't think her vision was consistent with the ORC, especially the way the Council wishes to work with the ORC. For example, with regard to the zoning ordinance, the Council sees a comprehensive approach, the ORC wants to review the ordinances and simplify them. Pam's vision was counter to that.

  Norman Foster

  Thinking, Vision, Wish

  17 Copy quote

• Google has already tested robot cars in San Francisco. If they can navigate San Francisco, they can probably manage just about anywhere.

  Norman Foster

  San Francisco, Car, Google

  12 Copy quote

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