How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr Foster? (2010)

Directed by: Carlos Carcas, Norberto López Amado | 78 minutes | documentary, biography | Starring: Norman Foster, Deyan Sudjic

‘How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?’, the truly beautiful and inspiring documentary about one of the world’s most famous architects, the British Norman Foster, begins with a defining quote: “Everything inspires me. Sometimes I think I see things that others don’t.”

Visionary Foster has countless landmarks to his name. A few examples: the dome of the Reichstag in Berlin, the Hearst building in New York, the Swiss RE (reinsurance) building in London, the enchanting Millau bridge in southern France, Chek Lap Kok Airport (airport with the largest building on Earth, built in just four years!) and the Masdar City mega-project in Abu Dhabi. In the long run, an entire CO2 and waste-free city should be built there. As Foster says in the documentary, “This plan seems like science fiction. But, in the state we are in with the world, isn’t it strange to note that this is only the first city to be built in this way? Isn’t it a necessity soon?”

Because the more his career took shape, the more Foster became interested in sustainable construction, using ecologically responsible, light materials. The person who set him on this path was the eccentric American inventor/architect Richard Buckminster Fuller. During a tour of the Sainsbury Center he asked: “But how much does your building weigh, Mr. foster?” A provocation that got Foster thinking about new, innovative use of materials. Because indeed, why does the vast majority of a building, the foundation and the functional remainder that you usually do not or hardly see, weigh the most? So Foster became a supporter of the ‘more is less’ principle in architecture. Lots of structure outside, which makes for a lot of space inside. Building according to his characteristic ‘diagrid structure’; reinventing airports and skyscrapers, buildings designed to increase the quality of life as the ‘glue’ of the cities.

Foster has been followed for more than two years for this documentary. We see how he manages to make his dreams come true as a municipal official in his hometown of Manchester, with architecture, cross-country skiing and flying as sources of inspiration/passions. Foster takes fresh pencils and luxury sketch pads with him everywhere he goes. The man is always making sketches. That work ethic, Bono of U2 tells us, comes from his father and mother. Numerous colleagues and other celebrities (artists and writers such as the modern philosopher Alain de Botton) comment on Foster’s work. From the two-man business with his first wife Wendy to Foster & Partners, the ninth largest architectural firm in the world.

One of his architects explains the firm’s point of view. Every project is a journey. Foster does not assume a stylistic starting point, but allows projects to gradually develop themselves. His buildings are stylish, careful and often have a dark side. Foster, child of the ‘new builders’ generation, a style passionately promoted by his then teacher at the Yale School of Architecture, Paul Rudolph. Foster who never gives up. Not even if he is diagnosed with cancer. He manages to survive this and a heart attack. In his words: “Everything is a new beginning. You can always go one step further. If you can’t improve yourself anymore, it’s time to stop and do something else.”

The Observer called the documentary ‘Hugely Enjoyable’. Very well observed…