The November 2024 edition of Domus – ‘The Future of Nature’ – marks the final issue of Norman Foster’s year as International Guest Editor of the notable Italian architecture and design magazine.
The series began on a note of hopefulness and continued this tone throughout. The theme of ‘Futures,’ which ran through each issue, was rooted in Norman Foster’s belief that we design for the needs of the present, with an awareness of the past, but in anticipation of a future that is unknown. He wrote in his opening editorial that “to embrace the future in the master plan of a city or in the design of a building is an act of forward-thinking optimism. This belief in a better future goes back to my childhood and has remained with me ever since. This is despite an awareness that somewhere in time, between World War II and the present, there has been a change of mood, certainly in the affluent West, in which the prospect of the future became less hopeful – more foreboding and threatening.”
Each issue, covering themes from the future of urbanism to the future of space and flight, engaged with authors and experts, varied in their backgrounds and disciplines – from Senior Manager of Industrial Design at SpaceX Anthony Sims to cognitive psychologist, author, and intellectual Steven Pinker. Despite their differences, they all shared an ability to confront readers with facts as data, rather than prejudices and emotion. In doing so their contributions have enlightened and informed, helping us to question, positively and negatively, some of the current mainstream views, especially on issues of the environment.
In Norman Foster’s youth he “imagined a future that was cleaner, brighter and shinier. The imagery of the science fiction of the 1950s reflected that mood and much of it has become the reality of today. Looking back in time, it seems to me that in every field of human activity – and my own in terms of cities and buildings is no exception – we have made extraordinary progress. This is not to underestimate or belittle the challenges that confront us today.” With this reflection, Norman Foster selected architecture, art and design projects from around the world for each issue. Though differing widely in typology, scale and approach, common to each practitioner's work was a sense of ambition and design excellence – a commitment to leave the world in a better state than they found it. Projects ranged from one-kilometre-long art museums in Shandong Province, China, to community centres in Bangalore, India; from underwater bike parks in Amsterdam, to vertical farms in Beijing.
Closing out the series, the final issue focusses on nature – a constant source of inspiration. The tree, in particular, has often been cited as a metaphor for the ideal building; it breathes and responds to changes in the seasons. It is inspirational as a cantilevered structure in harmony with nature. As a self-sustaining ecosystem, it harvests water and solar energy, recycles waste and absorbs carbon dioxide. Energy, then is at the heart of the natural world and, consequently, critical to our hopes of saving it. In his final editorial, Norman Foster invites us to think critically about the perceived wisdom behind the blind adoption of solar and wind energy without considering their not-inconsiderable environmental impacts. The solution? That we should instead reassess nuclear power, but with a renewed and, as ever, optimistic perspective.
