Building With History

Foster + Partners' work is rooted in a belief that there is no need for conflict between sharing a passion for structures from the past and a pleasure and anticipation for the architecture of the future: old and new can coexist with integrity and without apology. As Norman Foster has said, "Each age produces its own vocabulary and makes it own mark - in buildings that have evolved over time the original layers of history can often be understood more readily when seen alongside the new." Architectural critic Paul Goldberger explores the practice's developing approach to "building with history," culminating with the remodelling of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Complementing the study is a pictorial record of projects which illustrate different strands of Foster + Partners' work in this field. The illustrations in the book are by the distinguished architectural photographers Richard Bryant and the late Mark Fiennes.