Foreign Office Architects
Encyclopedia
Foreign Office Architects, FOA, was an internationally acclaimed architectural design studio headed by former husband and wife team Farshid Moussavi
and Alejandro Zaera-Polo. The London based studio, which was established in 1993, specialised in architectural design, master planning and interior design services for both public and private sector clients. Following the end of Moussavi and Zaera-Polo's marriage the cessation of the studio's activities was announced in June 2011. The establishment of two new practices, FMA (Farshid Moussavi Architecture) and London/Barcelona based AZPA Limited followed.
FOA's name was an allusion to the heritage of its principals with Zaera Polo hailing from Spain and Moussavi Iran. its office has projects in Japan, the United States, the Netherlands and Spain."
FOA emerged as one of the most significant architecture and urban design practices of its time, and become known for combining technical innovation with design excellence. FOA has produced critically acclaimed and award winning projects. In their approach to architecture, FOA are new pragmatists, bringing to bear great technical rigor in their focus on organic growth and the evolution of design ‘species’ hybridizing uses relating to both local and global conditions. The work unfolds rigorously through a broad variety of locations and typologies.
The studio's first project and that which it is still most famously associated with, the Yokohama Pier Port Terminal in Japan, has been described as a hybrid of non-Cartesian industrial infrastructure and versatile social functionality. was won as a result of an international competition held in 1995 and was completed in 2002.
Completed projects:
In the UK:
In the UK, projects under way include:
In Spain (where FOA has a local branch) completed projects include:
In Spain, projects under way include:
Completed projects in other European locations include:
Other European projects include:
Projects completed in Asia include:
In the USA FOA is developing:
In Asia FOA is currently:
FOA has won several prestigious competitions and commissions, including the BBC Music Box for the firm’s White City complex in 2003, which was widely exhibited but the client has yet to commit to build it. The practice played a central creative role in the Masterplanning team for the London 2012 Olympics Park, site-wide infrastructure and accompanying long-term regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley
(2002–2007) and was selected as part of the United Architects team to submit a design for the World Trade Center in New York in 2002, in the aftermath of 9/11.
Farshid Moussavi
Farshid Moussavi is an architect, founder of Farshid Moussavi Architecture and Professor in Practice in Practice of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She was co-founder and co-principal of Foreign Office Architects until June 2011.-Early career:Moussavi was born in...
and Alejandro Zaera-Polo. The London based studio, which was established in 1993, specialised in architectural design, master planning and interior design services for both public and private sector clients. Following the end of Moussavi and Zaera-Polo's marriage the cessation of the studio's activities was announced in June 2011. The establishment of two new practices, FMA (Farshid Moussavi Architecture) and London/Barcelona based AZPA Limited followed.
FOA's name was an allusion to the heritage of its principals with Zaera Polo hailing from Spain and Moussavi Iran. its office has projects in Japan, the United States, the Netherlands and Spain."
FOA emerged as one of the most significant architecture and urban design practices of its time, and become known for combining technical innovation with design excellence. FOA has produced critically acclaimed and award winning projects. In their approach to architecture, FOA are new pragmatists, bringing to bear great technical rigor in their focus on organic growth and the evolution of design ‘species’ hybridizing uses relating to both local and global conditions. The work unfolds rigorously through a broad variety of locations and typologies.
The studio's first project and that which it is still most famously associated with, the Yokohama Pier Port Terminal in Japan, has been described as a hybrid of non-Cartesian industrial infrastructure and versatile social functionality. was won as a result of an international competition held in 1995 and was completed in 2002.
Work
The work of the practice has branched into a very broad range of typologies and geographical locations and client types, rigorously developed to suit the particular conditions and programmatic requirements.Completed projects:
In the UK:
- John Lewis department store and Cineplex at the Shires West Development, LeicesterLeicesterLeicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
(2000-8)
In the UK, projects under way include:
- The Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication in the Greenwich Peninsula (2005-)
- Trinity EC3, an office complex in the City of LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(2003-) - The mixed use extension of the West Quay retail centre in SouthamptonSouthamptonSouthampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
(2002-) - Sevenstone Quarter, a mixed-use complex in SheffieldSheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
(2007-) - Hadspen Gardens, SomersetSomersetThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
(2005-) - The redevelopment of Euston Station in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
- A Maggie’s Centre for cancer patients in Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
(2007-)
In Spain (where FOA has a local branch) completed projects include:
- the La Rioja Technology Transfer Center, Logrono (2003-7)
- Bamboo Building, a social housing in MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
(2004-7) - A 50,000m2 coastal park with outdoor auditoria in BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
(2000-4) - Police headquarters in La Villajoyosa (2000-3)
- Municipal Theatre in Torrevieja (2000-6).
In Spain, projects under way include:
- The Institute of Legal Medicine in MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
(2006-) - The D-38 Office Complex in BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
(2004-) - The Hotel Masaveu in GijónGijónGijón , officially Gijón / Xixón, is a coastal industrial city and a municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias in Spain. Early mediaeval texts mention it as "Gigia". It was an important regional Roman city, although the area has been settled since earliest history...
(2006-) - A Residential Tower in DurangoDurangoDurango officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico. With a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja...
(2004)
Completed projects in other European locations include:
- The Blue Moon Hotel in Groningen, the Netherlands (1999–2000)
- The Umraniye Retail Complex and Multiplex, in IstanbulIstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey (2007) - A Villa in Pedralbes, BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
(2008)
Other European projects include:
- The Mahler 4 office building in AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
(2000-) - The future Aerospace Campus in ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, France (2006-)
Projects completed in Asia include:
- The Spanish Pavilion at the 2005 Aichi International Expo in Japan (2004-5)
- A headquarters building for Dulnyouk Publishers, PajuPajuPaju is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Paju was made a city in 1997; it had previously been a county .The city is located just south of Panmunjeom on the 38th parallel. To defend the Korean capital, Seoul, many US and Korean army bases are set up in the city. In 2002, the northernmost...
, South Korea (2000-5)
In the USA FOA is developing:
- The Museum of Contemporary ArtMuseum of Contemporary Art ClevelandThe Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, better known by its acronym, MOCA, is a contemporary art museum located in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1968 by Marjorie Talalay, Agnes Gund, and Nina Castelli Sundell as The New Gallery, the museum was renamed the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art in...
in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, (2006-)
In Asia FOA is currently:
- Building two 180m high housing towers at the World Business Centre in BusanBusanBusan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
, South Korea (2006-) - The KL Sentral Plot D Residential Towers in Kuala LumpurKuala LumpurKuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia (2006-)
FOA has won several prestigious competitions and commissions, including the BBC Music Box for the firm’s White City complex in 2003, which was widely exhibited but the client has yet to commit to build it. The practice played a central creative role in the Masterplanning team for the London 2012 Olympics Park, site-wide infrastructure and accompanying long-term regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley
Lower Lea Valley
The Lower Lea Valley is the southern end of the Lea Valley, surrounding the River Lea , which runs along the boundary of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on its western bank and the London Boroughs of Waltham Forest and Newham on its eastern bank, into the River Thames. The river forms the...
(2002–2007) and was selected as part of the United Architects team to submit a design for the World Trade Center in New York in 2002, in the aftermath of 9/11.
Awards
- 2008 RIBA European Award for Carabanchel Social Housing
- Awards to the firm include the Enric Miralles Prize for Architecture (2003)
- The Kanagawa Prize for Architecture in Japan (2003)
- Three RIBA International AwardRIBA International AwardRIBA International Awards are part of an awards program operated by the Royal Institute of British Architects, also encompassing the Stirling Prize and the European Award.The RIBA International Award rewards "the excellent work being done by RIBA members around the world"...
s (2004, 2005 and 2006 - The Special Award for Topography at the 9th Venice Architecture Biennale (2004)
- The 2005 Charles Jencks Award for Architecture
- Architects of the Year Award by Architectural DigestArchitectural DigestArchitectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
Magazine in Madrid.
Exhibitions
- Work in progress: FOA Yokohama International Port Terminal, Architectural Association, London, 1–24 June 1995
- FOA is one of very few practices to have represented Britain with a solo exhibition at the 8th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2002
- FOA Breeding Architectire, ICA, London, November 29 - February 29, 2003
- FOA Designing Modern Britain, Design Museum, Until November 2006
- The work of the firm has been widely exhibited at venues including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. and at the Max Protetch GalleryMax ProtetchMax Protetch is an American contemporary art dealer and founder of Max Protetch gallery in Washington, D.C., and later in New York City....
.
Further reading
The practice has been published in numerous monographs and catalogues globally:- Foreign Office Architects: Working, University of Michigan Press, 2005
- foa’s ark evolving container for the proliferating singularities, Korean Architecture and Culture Magazine, December 2004
- Phylogenesis: foa’s ark, Foreign Office, A monograph by Actar, Barcelona, Spain, 2003
- Complexity and consistency, A monograph, issue 115/116, El Croquis, Madrid, Spain, 2003
- The Yokohama Project, a monograph, Actar, Barcelona, Spain, 2003
- FOA Recent Projects, Text by Jeffrey Kipnis, Ciro Najle & Alejandro Zaera Polo, published as 2G no.16, Barcelona, Spain, 2001
- Agneta Eriksson, Foreign Office Architects, Eriksson + Ronnefalk Forlag, 2001