This new volume in the Norman Foster Sketchbooks series marks the beginning of the twenty-first century, covering the five-year period 2001–2005. After the all-embracing Volume ‘zero’ (a selection of the entire period 1975–2020) and the subsequent five volumes (1975–1980; 1981–1985; 1986–1990, 1991–1995 and 1996–2000), this Volume VI includes nearly 300 illustrations taken from 72 sketchbooks.
The new millennium could not have started worse: On September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York were destroyed in a terrorist attack for representing the values of ‘Western’ civilisation. The end of this five-year period was marked by a new change in Norman Foster’s professional practice: At the age of seventy, and with no intention of retiring, he reorganised the firm, which in 2006 would subtly change its name to Foster + Partners.
As in the previous volumes, the structure is thematic, with the usual first part on architecture, arranged by individual projects, and an additional section devoted to further schemes scarcely developed in the sketchbooks. In this case, there are substantially fewer projects than before, so the section on the professional practice has been reinstated, including the by now usual parts on furniture and objects, plus miscellany at the end The Norman Foster Sketchbooks series is a book collection celebrating Foster’s career from the 1970s to the present day, through his personal sketchbooks. It is a compilation of several volumes that follow the work of Norman Foster in chronological sequence, organised in five-year periods.
