Foster + Partners and “The Social Dimension”

In an essay published on the occasion of Lord Norman Foster’s 1999 Pritzker Architecture Prize, architect and critic Joseph Giovannini discussed the architect’s innovative designs in the context of how they create better spaces for people to live, work and play.

For example, Frankfurt’s Commerzbank tower moved the elevators, bathrooms and stairwells to the corners from the center, liberating the center for 53 floors of four-story atrium gardens. “The terraces, each a small, vertically local park serving its district of offices, fosters a democratic sense of village-like community within the larger geography of the building,” Giovannini wrote.

Giovannini says Foster calls this aspect of design “the social dimension.”

Just as designers consider the social dimension of their clients’ projects, there’s a substantial social dimension to their work, as well. AEC professionals collaborate like crazy. While much attention goes to individuals such as Lord Norman, the fact is, your projects come to life because of the efforts of lots and lots of people. For that, you need tools to communicate, collaborate, and exchange ideas.

And in your pursuit of better design, you go through many, many iterations of ideas.

Both of these areas – collaboration and iterative design – are where we come in. We design our software to streamline those processes.

We’re delighted to welcome Foster + Partners to the Newforma Customer Club. They’ll use our software to (ahem) foster the communication, collaboration and sharing of ideas that leads to more great projects, and to manage the iterations of design for which the firm is noted.