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Anyone here work at one of Foster's other buildings? (Berlin Reichstag, the Hong Kong airport, and London’s infamous “Gherkin” tower, etc.). How about Steve's P

by jt2190 9y ago

Anyone here work at one of Foster's other buildings? (Berlin Reichstag, the Hong Kong airport, and London’s infamous “Gherkin” tower, etc.). How about Steve's Pixar HQ? What's the day to day experience like?

davidwtbuxton 9y ago
Why describe the Gherkin as infamous? My impression is it is largely admired by Londoners (myself included). It would be interesting to hear from those working inside it.
- jt2190 9y ago
  I was quoting the article. I have no opinion on the building.
germanier 9y ago
Not many people work directly in the Reichstag (almost all offices and meeting rooms are located in adjacent buildings by different architects) but maybe I can give some insight as I visited it often at my former job. It's the main building of the German federal parliament and a huge portion of the volume is just the plenary hall. The new Reichstag is one of the nicest buildings I now. It was originally constructed in the 19th century, burned down (the fire was used by Hitler as an excuse to consolidate power) and was left unused for many decades. Foster essentially fitted a modern building into the old one, something which I never saw anywhere else done so successfully. You feel the importance and history of the building at every corner no matter how often you have been there. On the other hand, it is very functional with short ways (if you know which turn to take which is not that obvious for the first few times). The building has rough edges here and there as a result of a too low public budget and a short-cut everybody uses goes through a service passage behind an uninviting door with naked walls and large visible pipes but that is all really minor (or rather part of the charm). Ten thousand members of the public visit the building daily and they are very present in many parts of the building without disturbing day-to-day work at all (as you usually don't cross their path while still seeing them – it's quite nicely done). The transparency just embodies the self-concept of the newly unified country.
tonyedgecombe 9y ago
No experience but the BBC has an interesting series on Norman Foster and some of his contemporaries: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03vgz7r http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03vgz7r (iPlayer).

by jt2190 9y ago

davidwtbuxton 9y ago

Why describe the Gherkin as infamous? My impression is it is largely admired by Londoners (myself included). It would be interesting to hear from those working inside it.

jt2190 9y ago
I was quoting the article. I have no opinion on the building.

germanier 9y ago

Not many people work directly in the Reichstag (almost all offices and meeting rooms are located in adjacent buildings by different architects) but maybe I can give some insight as I visited it often at my former job. It's the main building of the German federal parliament and a huge portion of the volume is just the plenary hall. The new Reichstag is one of the nicest buildings I now. It was originally constructed in the 19th century, burned down (the fire was used by Hitler as an excuse to consolidate power) and was left unused for many decades. Foster essentially fitted a modern building into the old one, something which I never saw anywhere else done so successfully. You feel the importance and history of the building at every corner no matter how often you have been there. On the other hand, it is very functional with short ways (if you know which turn to take which is not that obvious for the first few times). The building has rough edges here and there as a result of a too low public budget and a short-cut everybody uses goes through a service passage behind an uninviting door with naked walls and large visible pipes but that is all really minor (or rather part of the charm). Ten thousand members of the public visit the building daily and they are very present in many parts of the building without disturbing day-to-day work at all (as you usually don't cross their path while still seeing them – it's quite nicely done). The transparency just embodies the self-concept of the newly unified country.

tonyedgecombe 9y ago

No experience but the BBC has an interesting series on Norman Foster and some of his contemporaries: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03vgz7r http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03vgz7r (iPlayer).