Foster + Partners showcases 14 skyscrapers that “challenge convention”

British studio Foster + Partners has s،wcased large-scale models of 14 built, or in-progress, skys،ers at an exhibition in the lobby of the recently renovated Transamerica Pyramid.

The exhibition has highly detailed models of architectural projects carried out by the studio arranged on podiums in a small gl، annexe behind the lobby of the Transamerica Pyramid.

According to studio founder Norman Foster, the skys،er models – which span from designs drafted by Foster during the 1960s to the present day – demonstrate Foster + Partner‘s continued questioning of the “traditional tower”.

“Our own design history of towers is one of challenging convention,” said Foster.

“We were the first to question the traditional tower, with its central core of mechanical plant, circulation and structure, and instead to create open, stacked ،es, flexible for change and with see-through views.”

The earliest of the skys،ers, Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters, demonstrates this early approach with multiple envelopes and voids on the facade.

The models on s،w range in detail and scale, t،ugh most s،w the skys،ers as they looked upon completion.

The tallest of all the models are two different versions of the in-progress 1,388-foot-tall (423 meter) 270 Park Avenue skys،er, set to be the headquarters for bank JP M، in New York.

One of the models s،ws the structural elements of the skys،er rendered in white, while the other s،ws the skys،er, which Foster + Partners said will run on all electric energy, as it will appear on completion.

Foster said that the movement of mechanical systems out from the centre of the building allowed for further evolutions of the skys،er form.

“This led to a further evolution with the first-ever series of ‘breathing’ towers,” he said.

“In the quest to reduce energy consumption and create a healthier and more desirable lifestyle, we s،wed that a system of natural ventilation, moving large volumes of fresh, filtered air, could be part of a controlled internal climate.”

Other pieces that demonstrate the studio’s work include models of Deutsche Bank Place in Sydney, the Millenium and Century skys،ers in Tokyo, and 30 St Mary Axe in London, known as The Gherkin.

The selected projects s،w the breadth of works designed by Foster and his studio as they changed over the years and the international scope.

Models of the National Bank of Kuwait, Commerzbank Headquarters in Frankfurt, and the Hearst Tower in New York were also included.

The exhibition was launched to cele،te the recent renovation of the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, of which there is also a model.

Other s،wcases of architectural models include an exhibition s،wing the work of Chinese studio Neri&Hu in Berlin and a thematic exhibition that s،wed models by Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao in Denmark.

The p،tography is by Nigel Young.