British architect Norman Foster, who has spent six decades pushing the boundaries of technology with awe-inspiring modernist architecture from California to Hong Kong, is still not convinced by the artificial intelligence craze.
“At the moment artificial intelligence is capable of cheating and inventing,” he told AFP in a recent interview in Paris, where a retrospective of his work is being held.
“We live in a physical world, we live in buildings, streets and squares, and that physicality cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence.”
Foster has been shaping urban landscapes since the 1960s, and in 1999 won the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
His statement projects include Apple’s giant ring-shaped headquarters in California, Wembley Stadium and Millennium Bridge in London, and the Houses of Parliament in Berlin.
Experts describe his practice, Foster & Partners, as perhaps the most prolific in history and the most adept at navigating changing trends and technology.
“He thinks of architecture as an organism that balances air, sun and life,” said Frédéric Migueilou, curator of the Norman Foster exhibition at Center Pompidou, France’s capital. said.
But he has not deviated from the controversy, irritating climate activists with his enthusiasm for building airports and his views on the environment.
– “Hard Facts” –
He is an advocate of urban living, saying that ‘people live longer in the city’, but his vision of maintaining an urban lifestyle has drawn some criticism.
He supported nuclear power, said it had not killed a single person, and said the world had no choice but to tackle climate change “with hard facts, not emotions.”
He sees this as a key part of the solution to the deprivation and poverty found in large cities and overpopulated slums around the world.
“Many people have been drawn to these cities because they have more opportunities,” he said.
“The answer must be abundant clean energy. The cleanest and safest form of energy is nuclear power.”
Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok Airport, which opened in 1998, made headlines for his company, and he has worked at several airports since, but climate activists see air travel as part of the problem. greatly annoyed.
But when the 87-year-old talks about his broader philosophy, he could easily make common ground with climate change activists.
~End of Sprawl~
Surrounded by models of his masterpiece, he quipped about the development of cleaner, greener cities.
He argued that the pandemic has increased people’s need to access outdoor spaces to eat, walk, or have services within walking distance of their homes.
“The most popular cities fit that model. Essentially, it’s the European model that was born before the rise of the automobile,” he said.
And, he said, transforming our relationship with cars will be central to reshaping the modern city.
“There is a younger generation that is less interested in ownership and they will move more towards ridesharing and mobility as a service,” he said.
This has moved us from sprawling, car-centric cities with rigid working and living zones to cities where buildings are multi-purpose and reduce the need for commuting.
Despite his storied history, Foster remains central to all modern design cues, but he doesn’t like to dwell on his achievements.
Pompidou’s exhibition, which showcased models of his buildings and the exhibits that inspired his design, allowed him to discover hidden connections.
But for those who, along with fellow Briton Richard Rogers, built the ‘high-tech’ architectural movement in the 1960s, what happens next will always be more important than what’s already done, of course.
“Overall, I’m more excited about the future than the past.”
