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Article: Sir Norman's Reichstag. (architect Norman Foster)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- February 11, 1995
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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FOR an architect dubbed the "hero of high-tech", Sir Norman Foster now spends an awful lot of his time on old piles. In Berlin work has just begun on his redesign of the Reichstag, the former and future home of the German parliament; in London the British Museum forecourt awaits the outcome of the full Foster treatment.
With their origins in the 19th century and with their sturdy stone structures, both buildings appear a world away from his high-tech masterpieces: Stansted's sleek airport terminal, the Willis Faber building in Ipswich and, towering above them all, the head office of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, a $500m icon of highly-engineered ...