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      Frederik Molenschot presents debut solo sculpture show at Carpenters Workshop Gallery

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      Sculptures crafted from recycled BMW airbags and oak railway sleepers feature in artist Frederik Molenschot’s Atlas 2000 exhibition, which is on display at Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris.

      Marking the Dutch artist’s first solo exhibition, Atlas 2000 features hand-sculpted works that are directly influenced by natural landscapes, Molenschot said.
      The show’s title refers to the visual diary the artist has created since his studies at Design Academy Eindhoven in 2000.
      Buoy Airbag is a sculpture made from recycled BMW airbagsSpread across the minimalist ground floor at the Paris branch of Carpenters Workshop Gallery, the sculptures were crafted from various materials and range from functional to abstract.
      Buoy Airbag is an amorphous, pale blue-hued hanging sculpture created from recycled airbags sourced from BMW vehicles.

      Frederik Molenschot’s debut solo show is on display at Carpenters Workshop Gallery”The piece delves into the intricate connection between cargo transport and climate change, with recycled airbags symbolising a melting arctic ice rock floating in the sea,” the artist told Dezeen.
      “I want to explore how luxury materials are used and how they become what they are,” he added. “[So] I processed the used airbags in a ‘couture’ way, to get a very high-quality finish.”
      Gingerblimp is a bronze LED light sculptureMolenschot also designed Gingerblimp, a bulbous bronze LED light sculpture characterised by a silver patina and a gold-brushed interior.
      The artist explained that the sculpture is a playful take on ginger root from the natural world and also nods to the manmade blimps that form part of New York City’s annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.
      Recycled oak railway sleepers were salvaged to create furnitureRecycled oak railway sleepers were salvaged to create a chunky dining table and chair, which were named Bridge Beat to “pay homage to the captivating structure of bridges”.
      Also part of this series is a black bronze desk and chairs formed from gridded lines arranged in triangular formations.

      Carpenters Workshop Gallery presents design exhibition on heritage, place and identity

      “Each material was selected purposefully, offering unique properties and textures that complement the conceptual aspects of the artworks,” explained Molenschot.
      “Every piece is hand-sculpted in our studio.”
      Molenschot also created oversized clothingAccording to Molenschot, the pieces’ forms vary as much as their material palettes. In one corner of the gallery, a bobbly bronze glove was positioned underneath a branch-shaped textured lamp while oversized clothing also features in the exhibition.
      “This solo show holds a special place in my heart, as it represents my entire artistic journey since my time at the Academy,” reflected Molenschot.
      “It’s an invitation to explore my vision of our world. My ‘atlas’ is a compendium of research, pictures, designs, and sketches that have shaped me as an artist.”
      The exhibition runs until mid-SeptemberKnown for his large-scale bronze sculptures, Molenschot has been represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery since 2008. The galley, which also has locations in London and the US, previously exhibited an all-denim furniture show by designer Harry Nuriev.
      The late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld also debuted his first sculpture exhibition at the Paris branch.
      Atlas 2000 is on display at Carpenters Workshop Gallery from 1 June to 16 September 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Uchronia conceives Haussmann-era Paris apartment as “chromatic jewellery box”

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      Multifaceted furniture pieces crafted to mirror the appearance of precious stones feature in this opulent Parisian apartment, which was renovated by local studio Uchronia for a pair of jewellery designers.

      Located on Paris’s Avenue Montaigne, the one-storey apartment is housed within a building designed as part of Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s famed reconstruction of the French capital during the mid-19th century.
      Uchronia renovated a Haussmann-era apartment in ParisUchronia maintained the apartment’s original boiserie, mouldings, parquet flooring and tall ceilings, which are hallmarks of Haussmann-era architecture.
      This quintessentially Parisian backdrop was updated to include bright and textured furnishings designed to mimic pieces of jewellery.
      The dining room features a modular resin table”The space had great bones – a classical Haussmanian layout,” said Uchronia founder and architect Julien Sebban. “That being said, it felt cold, pretentious and beige.”

      “For a change, we avoided structural work and focussed on the decoration,” he told Dezeen.
      A trapezoid lacquered cabinet was positioned in the living roomCreated as a home for two jewellery designers, the apartment features an amorphous resin table in the dining room that is divided into seven modular parts and patterned with a motif informed by the green gemstone malachite.
      “The table’s custom-designed, beaten steel legs echo the principle of claws holding a solitaire diamond to its ring,” explained Sebban.
      Coloured light refracts from a squat stained-glass chairMulticoloured light refracts from a squat stained-glass chair in the sizeable living room, which features a trapezoid lacquered cabinet and curvy jewel-like furniture finished in vivid hues and contrasting textures.
      Uchronia suspended a milky blue Murano glass chandelier overhead and wrapped the room’s floor-to-ceiling windows in sheer ombre curtains.
      Uchronia created a bespoke bed frame for the apartment”The walls echo the curtains and are also treated – and this is a technical feat – in gradations of colour,” the architect said.
      Tucked into an alcove, towering silvery shelves display a selection of ornaments and were designed to give the impression of an open jewellery box.
      “If the apartment’s shapes are reminiscent of the jewellery world, its materials and colours are also borrowed from it,” Sebban said.

      Six renovated Parisian apartments in historical Haussmann-era buildings

      In the single bedroom, the studio took cues from the undulating striations of onyx when creating a bespoke bed frame, finished in plush upholstery to blend in with the room’s patterned carpet while alabaster lamps were positioned atop its two posts.
      Elsewhere in the room, Uchronia paired a dramatically carved Ettore Sottsass dressing table in book-matched marquetry with an egg-shaped chair defined by gleaming red plastic and “space-age lines”.
      An Ettore Sottsass dressing table was also included in the bedroom”It’s very hard to pick a favourite place in this flat because each space has its own identity and colour,” Sebban said. “But if there’s one thing I really love about this apartment, it’s the vitrail that leads to the kitchen.”
      The curving window was an existing feature of the apartment, which the studio customised with candy-coloured glass panes.
      “It creates a place of passage that is quite timeless, like a little sanctuary,” said the architect.
      Coloured glass appears throughout the apartmentColoured glass is a motif that appears throughout the apartment, including the asymmetrical pastel-hued wine and cocktail glasses that look like precious stones.
      “Playful and contradicting combinations of colour, organic and geometric lines and a rich combination of textiles and glass come together to form a chromatic jewellery box filled with gems,” said Sebban. “Every detail has been thought out, polished and cut.”
      Asymmetrical pastel-hued glasses looks like precious stonesElsewhere in Paris, French architect Sophie Dries previously renovated a Haussmann-era apartment for clients who are “really into colour”, while Hauvette & Madani added a sumptuous wine-red kitchen to a dwelling in the city’s République area.
      The photography is by Félix Dol Maillot. 

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      Ramy Fischler blends contemporary and historic for Moët Hennessy’s first cocktail bar

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      Belgian designer Ramy Fischler has collaborated with Moët Hennessy and cocktail creator Franck Audoux to create the Cravan cocktail bar in the heart of Paris’ Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

      Named Cravan, the bar for luxury drinks group Moët Hennessy was a collaboration between architect Fischler and restaurateur, author, historian and cocktail aficionado Audoux.
      Ramy Fischler designed the Cravan bar for Moët Hennessy”The objective of the design was to amplify a story by Franck Audoux originating from his small bar in the 16th arrondissement of Paris and transforming it into a cocktail house over five levels in the centre of the capital – to imagine the creation of a new house of the Moët Hennessy group,” Fischler told Dezeen.
      “This is not a one-shot but the beginning of a long adventure. It was therefore necessary to define a harmony, a coherence, between all the ingredients of the project, whether it is the decoration, the service, the music or the lighting.”
      The building features three separate barsThe space takes its name from the avant-garde poet-boxer and sometime art critic, Arthur Cravan, a free-spirited figure greatly admired by Audoux, with whom Fischler worked closely on this project.

      “We share a common vision, based essentially on cultural references from literature and cinema, and above all a taste for scenic impact, framing a context, point of view, or narrative,” said Fischler.
      “We started with the desire to freely assemble codes, eras, and styles to craft a new repertoire which made sense to us and expressed the essence of Cravan.”

      Citrons et Huîtres oyster bar creates impression of “diving into an aquarium”

      Set in a 17th-century building in the heart of this historic and literary district, the space was arranged over five floors, with a small invitation-only space on the roof.
      The building has separate bars, each with its own distinct character on the ground, first and third floors, while the second floor hosts the Rizzoli bookstore-cum-library, where guests can come with their drinks to leaf through and buy books. On the fourth floor, there’s another invitation-only atelier-style space.
      Each of the spaces was designed to combine modern elements with the building’s historic fabricAccording to Fischler, the whole project took its cues from the concept of the cocktail.
      “I would never have imagined this project in its current state if it were not a question of drinking cocktails” he said.

      Socca restaurant feels like “a pocket of Southern France in Mayfair”

      “There are a number of ingredients that we blend together to create a unique whole, that seems offbeat but is actually very controlled,” he continued.
      “I thought of the spaces as cinematic scenes, hence the individual atmospheres on each floor which form different sets. You can sit in front of the stage, on the stage, or behind the stage, depending on the experience and viewing angle you prefer.”
      The bar is Moët Hennessy’s firstTo create these different scenes, the project makes use of a wide range of materials, often reclaimed salvaged pieces including parquet floors, stone floors and wood wall coverings, painstakingly installed by a large team of craftspeople.
      In Ramy Fischler’s projects, the textiles always play an important role and the practice features its own in-house textile designer.
      “For Cravan, we tried to use as much re-used material as possible, and in particular textiles from Nona Source, a start-up that makes available leftover, unused fabrics from the fashion houses of the LVMH group.”
      Historic elements were retained throughout the spaceThe practice strived to create a contrast between the warm and natural colours of the historic fittings, and the colder and metallic colours of the contemporary furniture and fittings, “which cohabit one alongside the other”.
      “Depending on the level, the colour palette is totally different, and since no room is alike, and each colour has been chosen according to the universe we have sought to compose,” said Fischler.
      Fischler also designed glasses for the barAll of Cravan’s furniture was custom designed and Fischler’s holistic approach extends to the cocktail glasses, which the practice designed for Cravan and which are displayed in the library.
      “Rather than creating new shapes, we preferred to select, from the history of glassware over the past 300 years, the models that we liked and that we wanted customers to rediscover,” explained Fischler.
      Other recent bars featured on Dezeen include an eclectic cocktail in Los Angeles designed by Kelly Wearstler to feel “like it has been there for ages” and the Ca’ Select bar and distillery in Venice.
      The photography is by Vincent Leroux and Alice Fenwick

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      Ronan Bouroullec creates pared-back furnishings for 17th-century chapel in Brittany

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      Following the wildfires that ravaged Brittany’s Arrée mountains last summer, Ronan Bouroullec has reimagined the interior of the region’s historic Chapelle Saint-Michel de Brasparts as part of a full restoration.

      Originally built at the end of the 17th century, the chapel is a modest building without lighting or electricity, perched on top of a prominent hill that rises above the surrounding moorland.
      Chappelle Saint-Michel de Brasparts has undergone a full restorationBreton businessman François Pinault, founder of luxury group Kering, financed the chapel’s restoration after it was damaged during the wildfires, patching up its metre-thick stone walls, rammed-earth floors and the exposed oak frame supporting the slate roof.
      Bouroullec, who was born and raised in Brittany, remembers the chapel from his childhood and was compelled to design a new altar and several furnishings for the building as part of the refurbishment.
      Working in collaboration with local artisans, he used a trinity of roughly-hewn materials – granite, steel and glass – that would stand the test of time while reflecting the building’s rugged rural location.

      Ronan Bouroullec designed a new altar for the chapel”Heavy enough not to be moved, sturdy enough not to be damaged, rough enough not to require cleaning, the elements that Ronan Bouroullec has placed in the chapel must succeed, despite or because of these characteristics, in creating a sensory experience,” wrote Martin Bethenod, former CEO of Pinault’s Bourse de Commerce museum, in an introductory text for the project.
      “The bush-hammered granite, blurred glass, hammered steel, the choice of a galvanized finish to soften the contrast of the cross and candlesticks with the whiteness of the lime-rendered walls – each intervention combines sensations of roughness and softness, of force and tremor.”
      The granite altar is topped with a simple hammered-steel crossNuit celtique de Huelgoat granite – quarried less than 15 kilometres away from the chapel – was cut into three pieces before being worked by local stone mason Christophe Chini to create an altarpiece, its horizontal base and a console table for candles and offerings.
      Bethenod compares the dark stone, studded with shards of white, to “the starry night sky over the chapel, virtually devoid of light pollution”.

      Álvaro Siza combines geometric forms for white-concrete church in Brittany

      The metal elements – a simple cross and a group of three tall candle holders, all in hammered steel – were the result of another collaboration, this time between Bouroullec and Roscoff-based metalworker Mathieu Cabioch.
      Some of the candles stand directly on the altar while the rest are integrated into the Brutalist console table, which consists of a long slab of granite, seemingly supported by several of the steel candle holders.
      A mirrored glass disc is mounted centrally behind the altarThe final element in Bouroullec’s material trinity is glass, in the form of a large mirrored disc that hangs centrally behind the altar.
      Made by glassmakers from the Venice area, with whom Bouroullec has worked for several years, the piece was designed to create a dialogue with the two stained-glass windows in the apse, which are the chapel’s only surviving decorative element.
      “More than a mirror, more than an object, it is a light source without physical substance, as if a round hole had been made in the wall to reveal daylight, unpredictable and constantly changing,” said Bethenod.
      Steel candleholders are also integrated into a wall-mounted consoleBrittany is home to some of the world’s oldest standing architecture. Other projects making use of the region’s historic buildings include this conversion of a 17th-century barn into a printmaker’s studio.
      The first new church to be built in Brittany in the 21st century was completed by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira in 2018, featuring a sculptural composition of intersecting concrete forms.
      The photography is by Claire Lavabre courtesy of Studio Bouroullec.

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      Dorothée Meilichzon reimagines historic Biarritz hotel with nautical nods

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      French interior designer Dorothée Meilichzon has renovated a Belle Epoque-era hotel in Biarritz, France, blending maritime and art deco motifs to add contemporary flair to the historic building.

      The Regina Experimental sits on a clifftop overlooking the Bay of Biscay in the French seaside city, which was once a royal getaway and is now a popular surfing destination.
      Nautical designs decorate the corridorsConstructed in 1907 by architect and landscape designer Henry Martinet, the grand building features a 15-metre-high atrium, large bay windows, a glass roof, and hints of art deco throughout.
      The majority of its spaces were well preserved, so Meilichzon’s input involved modernising the furnishings and decor – adding colour and pattern to enliven the spaces while playing on the hotel’s coastal location.
      Totemic sculptures were used in the hotel’s atriumIn the light-filled atrium, dark red and green sofas were arranged to create intimate seating areas within the expansive room.

      Totemic wicker sculptures form a line down the centre of the room, and cylindrical paper lanterns by designers Ingo Maurer and Anthony Dickens hang from the columns on either side.
      Guest rooms feature geometric, art deco-influenced headboards and striped upholsteryGuests in this space are served cocktails from a bar top shaped like an ocean liner, designed as an homage to modernist architect Eileen Gray, while listening to live piano music.
      While the bar top nods to Gray’s designs, the sofas in the room play on the shapes of the Itsasoan footbridge in nearby Guétary.
      Mirrors wrapped in rope continue the maritime theme in the roomsCarpet patterns vary between the different areas of the hotel – in the corridors, they carry a nautical motif, while the markings are reminiscent of fish scales in the guest rooms.
      The hotel’s restaurant, Frenchie, offers Basque-inspired cuisine within a bright room that features more nautical references, such as rope-hung shelves and shell-shaped sconces.
      Shell-shaped sconces decorate the dining roomHighly patterned tiled floors and furniture contrast the restaurant’s neutral plaster walls and ceiling, which are punctuated by arched niches and curved plywood panels.
      The dining area spills onto an outdoor terrace, populated by red cafe tables and chairs lined up against pale blue banquettes, around the corner from a swimming pool.

      Ibiza’s first hotel gets bohemian refresh from Dorothée Meilichzon

      The hotel’s 72 guest rooms are accessible from corridors that wrap around the atrium, and face either the ocean or the Golf de Biarritz Le Phare golf course.
      Shades of blue and green dominate the art deco-influenced bedrooms, which feature glossy geometric headboards and marine-striped upholstery.
      A cool palette of greens and blues is used in the bathroomsSmall lamps extend from rope frames that wrap around the mirrors, and red accents on smaller furniture pieces pop against the cooler hues.
      “Bedrooms are awash with Japanese straw and rope combined with marine stripes and plaster frescoes with aquatic motifs,” said the hotel. “Evocative of an ocean liner, each bedroom incorporates curved forms and long horizontal lines.”
      Built in 1907, the hotel overlooks the Bay of Biscay from a clifftopMeilichzon, founder of Paris-based design agency Chzon, is a frequent collaborator of the Experimental Group, and has designed the interiors for several of its properties.
      Earlier this year, she gave a bohemian refresh to Ibiza’s first hotel, now called the Montesol Experimental, and previously completed the Hotel Il Palazzo Experimental in Venice.
      The photography is by Mr Tripper.

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      Wine-red kitchen forms centrepiece of Paris apartment by Hauvette & Madani

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      Interior design studio Hauvette & Madani has made a sumptuous wine-red kitchen the focus of this otherwise neutral apartment in Paris.

      The Republique apartment is set within a typical Haussmann-era building in the French capital’s 11th arrondissement and belongs to a family with two children.
      From the outset of the renovation, the clients called for the home to orbit around a “spectacular” atmospheric kitchen.
      A wine-red kitchen is the focal point of the Republique apartmentHauvette & Madani responded by using a striking colour scheme, rendering all of the kitchen’s linoleum cabinets and its curved breakfast island in a wine-red colour. The same shade was also applied to the ceiling but in a glossy lacquer.
      “We wanted a dark but joyful colour and ended up deciding on this substantial red,” founders Samantha Hauvette and Lucas Madani told Dezeen. “We also love the fact [the colour’s] eccentricity matches the rest of the calm and soft apartment.”

      Spaces are connected by travertine-framed doorwaysLustrous decorative elements such as an aged-mirror splashback and brass light were also introduced to the space, and a support column was wrapped in stainless steel.
      The room’s original wooden flooring was overlaid with travertine and Emperador marble tiling.
      Shades of beige can be seen throughout the living roomA travertine-framed doorway looks through to the adjacent living room, where walls were painted an oatmeal beige, matching a bean-shaped velvet sofa from French brand Pierre Augustin Rose.
      A pair of wriggly-edged oak coffee tables and a terracotta-coloured edition of French designer Pierre Paulin’s Ribbon chair were also used to dress the space.

      Six renovated Parisian apartments in historical Haussmann-era buildings

      The dining room next door is centred by an oval travertine table, around which steel-framed leather seats have been arranged. At the rear of the room is a tall white dresser inset with oak-lined niches where ornaments or artworks can be displayed.
      A Murano glass chandelier hangs from the ceiling, where ornate moulding was carefully preserved.
      The nearby dining room has a travertine table at its centreThe project also saw Hauvette & Madani refresh the parents’ bedroom, which now features 1930s-style lighting and a bespoke oak headboard. This winds around the back of the room and has arched cut-outs that accommodate bedside tables.
      A walnut-wood vanity cabinet and vintage Italian mirror were also fitted in its en-suite bathroom.
      A bespoke oak headboard was installed in the parents’ bedroomOften considered the heart of the home, the kitchen is where architects and designers enjoy getting playful with colour.
      Other examples include the kitchen inside Sans-Arc Studio’s Plaster Fun House, where a pink terrazzo breakfast island contrasts duck egg-blue cabinetry.
      And the kitchen within this Belgian apartment by Carmine Van Der Linden and Thomas Geldof features birch wood cupboards that were stained a murky hue of green.
      The photography is by Yannick Labrousse. 

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      Six renovated Parisian apartments in historical Haussmann-era buildings

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      Period details are mixed with contemporary interventions inside these renovated apartments in Paris, built in the mid-19th century during Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s reconstruction of the French capital.

      In his role as the prefect of the Seine département under Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann was responsible for creating the network of boulevards that still define the city’s urban landscape today.
      The homogenous apartment buildings flanking these boulevards were designed to strict guidelines, all made from cream-coloured stone with a steep four-sided mansard roof and no more than six storeys.
      Although Haussmann was less prescriptive about the building’s interiors, they generally feature high ceilings and parquet floors alongside elaborate mouldings and boiserie.
      Read on for six examples of how architects and interior designers have brought these apartments into the 21st century, including a book lover’s loft and two flats combined to form a family home in the Marais.

      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring bedrooms with minimalist interiors, concrete kitchens and marble-lined bathrooms.
      Photo by Salem MostefaouiWood Ribbon apartment by Toledano + Architects
      Original details such as parquet floors and ornate ceiling plasterwork were retained in the renovation of this apartment, which had been left largely untouched since the end of the 19th century.
      But local studio Toledano + Architects tore down several partition walls to create a more open floorplan, traversed by a snaking plywood wall that roughly divides the apartment into three zones while providing tactical storage in the living room and kitchen.
      “I really wanted to enhance this dichotomy between ancient and contemporary,” founder Gabrielle Toledano told Dezeen. “It’s very relevant in a city like Paris where both are in a constant dialogue.”
      Find out more about Wood Ribbon apartment ›
      Photo by Giulio GhirardiApartment Canal Saint Martin by Rodolphe Parente
      French interior designer Rodolphe Parente made only a few minor architectural interventions when overhauling this apartment in Canal Saint-Martin, exposing long sealed-off doorways and creating a hybrid dining room and kitchen.
      Instead, he modernised the apartment by contrasting original details such as mouldings with unexpected contemporary details, colours and the “radical” art collection of the owner.
      In the bedroom, a vivid purple rug clashes with caramel-coloured walls while in the living room, period wall panelling highlights the modernity of the sofa and the glossy coffee table.
      Find out more about Apartment Canal Saint Martin ›
      Photo by Olivier Martin GambierApartment XIV by Studio Razavi
      With several partition walls removed, French office Studio Razavi created a new layout for this apartment by slotting a multi-faceted furniture block made from wood-fibre panels into the remaining gaps.
      Its staggered profile creates sightlines between the different areas of the house while framing some of the building’s original Hausmann-style ceiling mouldings.
      Painted in a muted slate grey, the furniture block performs a different function in every room – acting as a storage cabinet in the kitchen, a TV mount in the living room and a desk in the study.
      Find out more about Apartment XIV ›
      Photo by Stephan JulliardMarais apartment by Sophie Dries
      Two flats become one 100-square-metre residence in this renovation project that French architect Sophie Dries completed in trendy Marais for a family of four.
      Period details were painted in simple white, providing a contrast with new additions such as the Hans J Wegner chairs and the dyed linen curtains in the living room
      “The Haussmannian style was refined and pared down, in order to introduce minimal lines better suited to a modern family,” Dries explained.
      Find out more about Marais apartment ›

      Enter the Diamond by Atelier 37.2
      An additional bathroom is housed inside the three-metre-high birchwood volume at the centre of this residence in the French capital, designed by local studio Atelier 37.2.
      The sharp lines of the diamond-shaped structure contrast with the apartment’s ornate ceiling mouldings and white-painted walls.
      “This tension generates a fictional potential that plays with the imagination of the inhabitants,” said the studio.
      Find out more about Enter the Diamond ›
      Photo by Stéphane ChalmeauArsenal loft by h2o Architectes
      This three-room loft is set inside the mansard roof of a Haussmann-era building in the Arsenale district, which originally served as servant’s quarters for the apartments below.
      Parisian firm h2o Architectes opened up its floor plan to make the most of the top-floor views while installing wooden bookshelves to define different areas and house the extensive library of the apartment’s book-loving owner.
      Their timber construction creates a visual connection with the original parquet floors, while the white paint used to brighten walls and other structural elements continues onto some sections of the floor.
      Find out more about Arsenal loft ›
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring bedrooms with minimalist interiors, concrete kitchens and marble-lined bathrooms.

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      Largest-ever Norman Foster retrospective opens at Centre Pompidou in Paris

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      An exhibition dedicated to the work of British architect Norman Foster has opened at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, showcasing drawings and original models produced by the architect over the last six decades.

      The exhibition, which according to the Norman Foster Foundation is the largest-ever retrospective display of Foster’s work, features around 130 of the architect’s projects including the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Headquarters, Hong Kong International Airport and Apple Park.
      The exhibition was designed by Norman FosterDesigns that informed Foster’s work are also exhibited, including works by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, French painter Fernand Léger, Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi and Italian painter Umberto Boccioni, and even cars, which the architect is passionate about.
      The exhibition, simply called Norman Foster, was designed by Foster with his architecture studio Foster + Partners and nonprofit organisation the Norman Foster Foundation.
      On display are sketches, drawings and models of the architect’s buildingsCurated by Centre Pompidou deputy director Frédéric Migayrou, the exhibition aims to showcase examples of Foster’s innovation and technology, his approach to sustainability and his ideas for the future of the built environment.

      “This exhibition traces the themes of sustainability and anticipating the future,” said Foster.
      “Throughout the decades we have sought to challenge conventions, reinvent building types and demonstrate an architecture of light and lightness, inspired by nature, which can be about joy as well as being eco-friendly.”
      Examples of Foster’s work are interspersed with cars that have inspired himThe 2,200-square-metre exhibition begins with a room dedicated to Foster’s sketches and drawings, a practice he uses to communicate ideas and log design inspiration.
      “For me, design starts with a sketch, continuing as a tool of communication through the long process that follows in the studio, factories and finally onto the building site,” said Foster.
      “In 1975 I started the habit of carrying an A4 notebook for sketching and writing – a selection of these are displayed in the central cabinets, surrounded by walls devoted to personal drawings.”
      Visitors begin the exhibition in a room filled with Foster’s sketchesThe exhibition continues in a large space with partition walls that separates it into seven themes: Nature and Urbanity, Skin and Bones, Vertical City, History and Tradition, Planning and Place, Networks and Mobilities, and Future Perspectives.
      The Nature and Urbanity section explores Foster’s approach to preserving nature by building “dense urban clusters, with privacy ensured by design,” the studio said.

      “There are a lot of dangerous myths” about sustainability says Norman Foster

      Referencing a critic’s comment that the external appearance of Foster’s projects could be categorised as having a smooth “skin” facade or expressing its skeletal structure, the Skin and Bones portion of the exhibition showcases projects that illustrate the relationship between structure, services and cladding.
      In the Vertical City section, the studio showcases how it created “breathing” towers by designing open, stacked spaces.
      The exhibition features around 130 Norman Foster projects”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 spaces, flexible for change and with see-through views,” said Foster.
      “Here, the ancillary services were grouped alongside the working or living spaces, which led to a further evolution with the first ever series of ‘breathing’ towers.”
      It showcases projects spanning Foster’s six-decade-long career”In the quest to reduce energy consumption and create a healthier and more desirable lifestyle, we showed that a system of natural ventilation, moving large volumes of fresh filtered air, could be part of a controlled internal climate,” the architect continued.
      The History and Tradition section aims to provide insight into examples of historic and vernacular architecture that influenced Foster, while the Planning and Places portion explores masterplanning and placemaking in urban spaces.
      The exhibition is on display at the Centre Pompidou in ParisTowards the open exhibition space’s exit, the Networks and Mobility section displays examples of transport and infrastructure and leads to the final room, Future Perspectives, which exhibits concepts for future methods of travel and communication.
      On display are details of autonomous self-driving systems and designs for habitats on Mars and the moon that were developed with NASA and the European Space Agency.
      Foster recently spoke with Dezeen about his views on sustainability in architecture, in which he said “there are lots of dangerous myths”.
      The photography is by Nigel Young from Foster + Partners.
      The Norman Foster exhibition is on display at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France, from 10 May to 7 August 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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