Foster + Partners. The Story of a Practice

During his career Norman Foster experienced all types of practices: from the two-people studio he set up with his wife in 1967 through the 30-50 people medium-size office he led during the Seventies, to the globalized multi-centers practice he established in the last decades. Foster + Partners is a case-study of particular interest in the contemporary scenario: an office that aims to merge the financial and organizational structure of a worldwide generalist firm with the design structure of a medium-size studio gathered around a charismatic leader. The paper analyzes the improvements in the financial and organizational structure of Foster + Partners from the Seventies, and how those changes impacted on the selection of the works and on the design method. Moreover, it will be explored the different roles that Norman Foster assumed in ‘his’ practice along the time, questioning the shades of a singular or shared authorship in such an office.