Synopsis
Norman Foster, one of the most consistent advocates of architecture based on modern technology, achieved a world-wide reputation with the headquarters for the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in Hong Kong, Stansted Airport in London, Century Tower in Tokyo and his telecommunications tower in Barcelona. His most important projects in Germany are the conversion of the Reichstag building in Berlin and the new Commerzbank headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. The Commerzbank building, situated in the middle of the city centre, is an exceptional complex in many respects. The plan of the building, which, including the aerial, is almost 300 m high, is triangular in form with slightly concave sides. Within the transparent tower gardens totalling 4000 m are set aside in a spiral configuration, stepping up throughout the building as 15 m high climate buffers. The office floors are combined to create so-called "villages"; in conjunction with the gardens a central atrium, which is ca. 160 m high, brings daylight even to the offices in the centre.
The balance of energy use achieved through the most advanced operating systems is much more environment-friendly than in other high-rise buildings. It can be stated that the new Commerzbank headquarters is a landmark of contemporary architecture, comparable in its historical significance only with the works of a Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
