Foster + Partners has collaborated with the notable German architectural magazine and publishing house DETAIL to produce a new monograph on the recent work of the practice: Foster + Partners: Architecture and Construction Details.
Featuring 12 recently completed works – many published here for the first time – this new publication highlights the broad range and design complexity of projects undertaken by the practice. They cover urban-scale interventions and demountable pavilions, to innovative material technologies and vernacular building techniques – from smaller buildings, such as the Shek O Residence in Hong Kong and Le Dôme Winery near Bordeaux, to large-scale works, such as the Al Sa’ad Plaza Towers in Qatar.
Rather than focus on particular design criteria, typology or chronology, the selection of projects aims to explore the continued value of integrated design at the practice. Almost all were the product of Foster + Partners architects working in integrated teams with our own structural and environmental engineers. They also, primarily, represent buildings taken through detail design to delivery on-site by Foster + Partners – something that is celebrated by the detail drawings included with each project.
This collection of bespoke construction detail drawings is supplemented by a suite of axonometrics, structural engineering schematics, sketches, photos and texts for each project, many of which have been produced specifically for the new book.
In addition, three all-new essays expand on the holistic nature of design at Foster + Partners, focusing on: the historic legacy and continued importance of integrated design in the studio; the structural engineering approach of the practice today; and the critical nature of sustainability in construction.
