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Foster Associates
At the moment, Misplaced Pages seems to consider Norman Foster as synonymous with Foster Associates (or Foster and Partners, it looks like the name has changed). I'm as guilty as the rest, having just added the Stirling Prize details to this page. However, I understand that there are several other significant architects who are part of the architectural practice who may have had more input on some of the buildings listed here.
It would be good to write the article on Foster Associates and straighten out some of the attributions. -- Solipsist 07:52, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- Splitting Foster Associates out from Norman Foster is an excellent, and indeed overdue, idea. I don't think, however, that you'll get much traction on attributions beyond that - it's pretty common knowledge that a bunch of Foster's most famous recent buildings, including the London Town Hall and The Gherkin, were largely designed by Ken Shuttleworth - but Foster Associates don't credit individuals, or say who did what proportion of a project. - John Fader
- OK, done. Its at Foster and Partners and if anyone can improve it, please be bold. Now we need an article on Ken Shuttleworth. -- Solipsist 08:54, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
who really does the work?
Is it really Norman Foster who designs all the works? I guess nowadays, it's mostly his team/company that does all the important fundamental work (statics, function, technique etc.), with Foster only being the persons that makes up the look. --Abdull 21:43, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- see Foster_and_Partners#Senior_partners. -- Solipsist 21:49, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Reichstag
Why was the image of the Reichstag changed back to Image:Reichstag mit Wiese.jpg. I've noting against that picture and it is a fine illustration of the Reichstag, but it is a poor illustration of the work of Norman Foster. It mostly shows the 19th century Neo-Palladian facade of Paul Wallot. No doubt there are a lot of internal changes too, but yes the principle contribution by Norman Foster and Foster and Partners would be the dome. As such Image:Reichstag-rooftop.JPG or Image:Reichstag coupole.jpg are the more appropriate illustrations here. Not to mention the fact that geometrically faceted, curved glass structures such as the new roof on the British Museum, are pretty much the signature of Foster and Partners. -- Solipsist 13:13, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
- Normally, I'd agree with you -- we should focus on what he created, but additions to old buildings are special cases, and especially so in this case. The proposed picture takes Foster's addition completely out of context. Yes, it is important to show the fine details of the dome, but the new picture can't see the forest for the trees. Flip between the pages and tell me which one shows the work of a master? Yes, you are right: The old picture shows the columned architecture that Foster did not create. But it should. Foster revered it in the design process. The reason the Dome succeeds is in context, its position in the forest, -- as the symbol of a new, transparent German government that invites public inspection, a glass lens set atop the seat of power -- less important are the facets, geometry, and glass of the dome itself -- that is, the individual tree in the forest. In this sense, the old picture reflected why the dome succeeds better than the proposed pic, which isolates it and diminishes its value. The proposed pic is very good. I would not object to you putting it in if you insist, but I think its a poor choice for the reasons I listed above. --Muchosucko 13:57, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
- One could argue that the dome picture lacks adequate context, whereas the overall picture lacks sufficient Foster content. So perhaps both are unsuitable as depictions of Foster's work. Showing both (on the Reichstag page) makes sense, but one without the other is a bit misleading. Although the Reichstag project was an important project for Foster, so are many of his other works too. Can I suggest we replace the Reichstag picture with Image:British Museum New Great Court.jpg, which shows similar work (modern renovations to an older building) but I think shows the synergy between the two (which neither of the Reichstag pictures do). And it's a nicer picture to boot. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:12, August 19, 2005 (UTC)
- I wouldn't mind. It is one of the best pics I've seen on Misplaced Pages. Though, again, I would not object to Solip's replacing the pic either, I just think it has its costs. 'Tis all.--Muchosucko 20:48, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
- I was also wondering about a complete switch to a different building as a solution. The British Museum roof is quite a good example, although it would be a shame to replace an international project with a British one. Unfortunately it looks like we don't have any particularly good pictures of Chek Lap Kok airport. -- Solipsist 08:40, 20 August 2005 (UTC)
- Oh, hows about this: we add a gallery tag at the bottom, and add every Foster picture we have (including both reichstags). We move Clyde Auditorium there, and replace it with Image:Millau Bridge over Tarn River France.jpg. We also have Image:British Museum New Great Court.jpg as a full size picture. That way we have a big pic of typical Foster (the gherkin), an old/new fusion (Brit museum), and a non-british thing (Millau). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 09:44, August 20, 2005 (UTC)
- Sounds like a plan. The current picture layout isn't that great in any case. -- Solipsist 12:16, 20 August 2005 (UTC)
- Oh, hows about this: we add a gallery tag at the bottom, and add every Foster picture we have (including both reichstags). We move Clyde Auditorium there, and replace it with Image:Millau Bridge over Tarn River France.jpg. We also have Image:British Museum New Great Court.jpg as a full size picture. That way we have a big pic of typical Foster (the gherkin), an old/new fusion (Brit museum), and a non-british thing (Millau). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 09:44, August 20, 2005 (UTC)
- I was also wondering about a complete switch to a different building as a solution. The British Museum roof is quite a good example, although it would be a shame to replace an international project with a British one. Unfortunately it looks like we don't have any particularly good pictures of Chek Lap Kok airport. -- Solipsist 08:40, 20 August 2005 (UTC)
- I wouldn't mind. It is one of the best pics I've seen on Misplaced Pages. Though, again, I would not object to Solip's replacing the pic either, I just think it has its costs. 'Tis all.--Muchosucko 20:48, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
- One could argue that the dome picture lacks adequate context, whereas the overall picture lacks sufficient Foster content. So perhaps both are unsuitable as depictions of Foster's work. Showing both (on the Reichstag page) makes sense, but one without the other is a bit misleading. Although the Reichstag project was an important project for Foster, so are many of his other works too. Can I suggest we replace the Reichstag picture with Image:British Museum New Great Court.jpg, which shows similar work (modern renovations to an older building) but I think shows the synergy between the two (which neither of the Reichstag pictures do). And it's a nicer picture to boot. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 14:12, August 19, 2005 (UTC)
Links
Why aren't the links under 'projects' to pages that actually describe the particular building? I can understand that 'Beijing Capital International Airport International Terminal, China (2007)' links to Beijing Capital International Airport rather than a page devoted to the terminal itself, but having the word 'library' in 'Library of the Philological Faculty at Free University of Berlin, Germany (2005)' link to the generic definition of a library? Some of the projects don't even have links. RomanSanders 21:33, 12 February 2006 (UTC)
Text for "Gherkin" Picture
A minor point, but the text - in both this page and the Wikimedia description - accompanying the picture of 30 St Mary Axe, says we are looking at the pinnacle, or top of the building. The photograph is in fact taken from ground level, and shows the ENTIRE building from that perspective. The true pinnacle - a rounded cone of clear glass - is not actually visible in this picture. I have corrected this.
Name in infobox
I think the name in the infobox should be "Normal Foster" as that's how he's known professionally as an architect. However, "The Lord Foster" is simply incorrect as his correct title is "The Lord Foster of Thames Bank" – the former would refer to someone else. If anyone decides to change it again, please at least use his correct title! JRawle (Talk) 21:39, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
Birthplace
The online Who's Who gives NF's birthplace as Reddish, Stockport, not Levenshulme, Manchester as in the article (the two places are adjacent). Is there a strong reason for the Levenshulme entry? Mr Stephen 00:16, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
Lord Foster was undoubtedly born in Reddish, Stockport, yet it keeps being changed (as it was again today) to Manchester -- presumably because this delivers more urban "cred" than Reddish. We should insist on the accurate birthplace. Jackhughes (talk) 19:55, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
Requested move
 | It has been proposed in this section that multiple pages be renamed and moved. A bot will list this discussion on the requested moves current discussions subpage within an hour of this tag being placed. The discussion may be closed 7 days after being opened, if consensus has been reached (see the closing instructions). Please base arguments on article title policy, and keep discussion succinct and civil. Please use {{subst:requested move}}. Do not use {{requested move/dated}} directly. Links: current log • target log • direct move |
- Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank → Norman Foster
- Norman Foster → Norman Foster (disambiguation)
– There's a couple of things. Firstly, the architect is by far the most well known of those listed on the dab page, both in terms of page views (he has far more views than all the others combined - in July 11 he got 13093 views, the others 1694 combined of which Norman Foster (director) accounted for 1005. Incidentally, the dab page got 5432 views that month so even assuming all the views of the other pages were from the dab page that still means 3738 people had to go through the dab page to get to the article they wanted), incoming links, and google searches. In terms of primary topic Norman Foster should therefore go to the architect.
The next question is that of the title of the page. Here the guideline is WP:NCPEER. In reviewing the google searches I got 10 times as many results for "norman foster" than lord "norman foster". I believe that he is almost exclusively known by his personal name, so should be moved in accordance with the guideline.
Incidentally, I do see in the logs some page moves, but I cannot see any related discussion to them. Polequant (talk) 12:04, 13 October 2011 (UTC)
- Support per above arguments. Was on my todo list since some time, so thanks for the nomination. --Elekhh (talk) 12:34, 13 October 2011 (UTC)
- Support. Polequant gives a good explanation of why this Norman Foster is the primary topic and he is far more commonly known by his personal name than as Lord Foster (4,400 gnews results for "Norman Foster" architect, compared to 1,620 for "Lord Foster"). Jenks24 (talk) 14:26, 13 October 2011 (UTC)
- Support I don't quite understand why so many lords' articles here are tagged with the whole 9-yards of officialdom. It's true that he's generally known as 'the architect Norman Foster', or simply 'Norman Foster' and only the extremely ceremonial ever refer to him as "Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank". --Ohconfucius 02:17, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
- Oppose. Now normally known as Lord Foster. Kittybrewster ☎ 11:37, 14 October 2011 (UTC)
- Oppose. The google queries proposed by nominator aren't really the right way to look at this issue. But the disambiguation page argument is persuasive. There is a reason why we title peerage articles according to a specialized convention, and there is no reason to deviate from that here. I think we should have this:
- Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank - article about Lord Foster, the architect
- Norman Foster - redirect to the above
- Norman Foster (disambiguation) - linked to from the above
- In this way we fix the disambiguation problem without needlessly breaking the convention on peerage articles.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 08:00, 15 October 2011 (UTC)