Exhibition News

Foster at Centre Pompidou

Constant change

10/05/2023

The Pompidou hosts the largest retrospective of Norman Foster’s oeuvre

On view through 7 August at the Centre Pompidou in Paris is a journey through the six-decade career of Norman Foster. Taking up almost 2,200 square meters of floor space, the exhibition presents 130 projects of his through an unprecedented selection of sketches and drawings organized in seven themed sections: ‘Nature and Urbanity,’ ‘Skin and Bones,’ ‘Vertical City,’ ‘History and Tradition,’ ‘Planning and Place,’ ‘Networks and Mobility,’ and ‘Future.’ Besides models, prototypes, and videos, the show includes works by Fernand Léger, Constantin Brancusi, Umberto Boccioni, and Ai Weiwei, as well as industrial creations – such as the glider and several classic automobiles, among them the Avions Voisin C7, which belonged to Le Corbusier – that have been sources of inspiration for Foster.

Norman Foster says: “This exhibition traces the themes of sustainability and anticipating the future. The birth of the practice in the 1960's coincided with the first signs of an awareness of the fragility of the planet. These were the green shoots of what would later be named The Green Movement. These principles may now be mainstream but more than half a century ago they were revolutionary and anticipated the reality of today. Throughout the decades we have sought to challenge conventions, reinvent building types and demonstrate an architecture of light and lightness, inspired by nature, which can be about joy as well as being eco-friendly.”

Curated by Frédéric Migayrou, deputy director of the MNAM-CCI (Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre de Création Industrielle), the exhibition is designed by Norman Foster and has been set up in collaboration with the Norman Foster Foundation and Foster + Partners.