I've got everything left to achieve

Building for Life

Baron Foster of Thames Bank turned 90 on June 1st. He has left his mark on the architectural landscape of the world, collaborating with fellow architects and many designers. One cannot help but be in awe of how imagination on paper becomes the realisation you can behold.

In one of his iconic buildings, where I used to have lunch in the 1990s, the Willis Building in Ipswich, with black curtain walls contrasting with a yellow and green interior, went on to become the youngest Grade I listed building in the UK.

I remember visiting Berlin and observing how a Foster and Rogers project in that city seemed like you hire Norman Foster to transform a monument into a modern masterpiece, as he did with the Reichstag building, and Richard Rogers to create a monument by building a modern masterpiece, as he did with the Daimler complex.

Everything left to achieve

Architecture has always interested me, but that is not the primary focus of this blog. Interviewed for the Architects’ Journal in May, this last exchange—question and answer—offered an insightful perspective on the man himself.

Gino Spocchia: You’re about to turn 90, an achievement in its own right. As an architect, do you feel there is anything left for you to achieve?

Norman Foster: I've got everything left to achieve. That’s an impossible question. [Architects’ Journal: Norman Foster at 90: ‘I have everything left to achieve’]

My journey to this interview was influenced by listening to Richard Rogers on Desert Island Discs yesterday; he was interviewed in March 1990, and he spoke about his early partnership with Norman Foster, then winning the Pompidou Centre competition with Renzo Piano, and Su Rogers. [BBC Sounds: Desert Island Discs – Richard Rogers]

Propinquity to serendipity

In the 20 years I have visited Paris and sat for brunch on the first floor of Café Beaubourg that overlooks the space in front of the Pompidou Centre, I have only observed people and never entered the centre itself. Richard Rogers passed away at 88 in 2021.

I suppose one first considers the blessing and fortune of good health at such an age, to continue to have zest for life and a purposefulness that suggests you believe you still have much to do and give.

Thinking of continuing potential

For Norman Foster, advanced age is not an end; he embraces a philosophy of ongoing potential, rejecting the cultural narrative that achievement belongs primarily to youth. Meaningful accomplishment remains possible at any stage of life. Retirement is not a part of this man’s vocabulary.

For someone turning 90, this perspective embodies:

• A refusal to be defined solely by past accomplishments
• An understanding that wisdom and experience create unique opportunities
• A rejection of artificial timelines for meaningful contribution
• An embracing of new goals suited to current capabilities
• Finding purpose in mentorship, creative expression, or personal growth

I am deeply inspired by this mindset, as I contemplate returning to university to learn from and engage with youthful insights and young minds. I am convinced of the importance of lifelong learning and continuous engagement with a world of possibilities.

Norman Foster exemplifies this life-affirming stance beautifully; if we have consciousness, will, health, and resources, we retain the capacity for meaningful achievement. It is clear he enjoys what he does and will continue for as long as he can. Belated happy birthday, Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank.

References

20^th Century Architecture: Norman Foster

20^th Century Architecture: Richard Rogers

Thought Picnic: Becoming the channel to the unlimited potential of others

Life in the life of another

On the trailer for a new television series, the lady said, “The life I wanted with you, you’re actually having with someone else.” It was an outburst laden with emotional hurt and betrayal though I am not privy to the backstory of the relationships.

What I could glean from the snippet of the show was that the man was having an affair with the lady in question whilst at the same time having a baby with another woman. Whether the man was aware the lady had put much stock in the relationship to expect more or her love was unrequited, I could not say, but I can assume there were possibilities which led to disappointment.

What she said began to take on a deeper meaning, she was as invested as to think her future was bright in the relationship and the loss of it left her in regret and hurt, there would need to be a long passage of time if she would move on from this episode in her life to find another fulfilling and rewarding relationship with another.

Limits that undermine our autonomy

Thinking about it, reminded me of the blog I wrote of the universes of fish tanks, the limits of environment and circumstance that constrain us in the present depriving us momentarily or considerably of visions of a better future. The limits constructed around us by our expectations when unfulfilled emasculate passion and hope.

Blog - Thought Picnic: In our symbolic aquariums of our human existence

Worse still is to be confined within the limits of the limited means, ability and capacity of another, almost like being enslaved in the prison of the mind of another under whose control you have found yourself unable to break free and chart your own course without their permission.

It is a loss of autonomy and the absence of initiative, the type of bondage we should pray never to be bound in for longer than it takes for us to realise we have the potential limited only by our ability to imagine and dream beyond our current or future reality.

Free the people you can influence

In this, I found I had a responsibility which I was able to phrase in the following manner, “Be careful not to frame the world of another in the limits of your own. If you cannot take another towards their own unlimited potential, you are probably bad for them.”

Furthermore, be a channel and watch those who come your way grow. If at any time you realise another you are with that looks up to you, who you mentor, who you influence, or who you support is constrained because of whatever you do, say, or espouse; be quick to set them free and help them go to live wonderfully amazing lives.

This is a rough diamond of mediation that hopefully in the thinking of others might be refined and cut into the brilliance of an exclusively exquisite jewel.

Thought Picnic: On growing into being at ease with everything

Understanding me

With time I have grown to understand that I am a child of privilege, the privilege of my place of birth, the privilege of my early education, the privilege of having parents who exuded professional confidence in the choice of career and the progression it took in their professional lives, the privilege of not needing to belong when there was the pressure to belong, the privilege of knowing, understanding and accepting who I am, the privilege of having horizons only limited by my ability to dream or imagine.

In having this privilege, it does not mean I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, we were not a moneyed or rich class, but we had sufficiency and contentment, I saw in my parents a steady ambition without greed, a healthy bearing of self-respect, a commanding confidence in leadership, the ability to adapt to many situations and relate to people in different walks of life.

Fixing on the positive

It did not make my parents perfect, they had their numerous flaws, part of the privilege of my upbringing included appreciating value and discarding the dispensible; as a preacher once said, to have the sense of an old cow by eating the hay and leaving the baling wire.

Altogether, these examples have helped me adopt an outlook and mindset that allows me to thrive in many settings in which I have found myself. To accept the many privileges, I have without repudiation and guilt, recognising there are many not as fortunate as I have been and seeking ways to help others rise above the limitations imposed by the absence of privilege or opportunity to realise any of their potential.

Glad to help

Where I can, I provide means, hopefully, I can show some example, in some cases, I offer guidance and to some, I have been honoured with the opportunity to mentor. If I seek any reward, it is to see whoever I have engaged thrive and succeed, whether they better my achievements is usually up to their innate abilities and good fortune, I will celebrate and herald them, for it redounds to my joy.

In view of this, I am thinking of ways in which I have help people be first at ease with themselves and who they are without shame or self-deprecation, then be at ease with any place or situation they might find themselves to be able to express themselves clearly, with confidence, polish and assuredness.

Working on the foundations

Know that they can fit in, by merit, by ability and by achievement with every means to find opportunity, gain favour, have others see potential in them that can take them to new ground. Maybe there is a way to teach presence whilst understated, bearing, class and sophistication without putting on airs or having delusions of grandeur.

To find ways of being the best representative of yourself with simple adjustments and accoutrements, by so presenting the version of yourself without having to struggle to maintain the standards you have created for yourself in having principles, integrity and poise.

An identity crisis

In watching 'How to Break Into the Elite' on BBC Two last week, I realised how many having much academic achievement still found it difficult to access elite professional opportunities because whilst their qualifications might have taken to interviews, they rarely clinched the jobs due to other subjective elements of their person, personality, expression or conduct.

Their backgrounds, identity, schooling or absence of example of how to access these places then thrive in those environments appeared to dog their efforts and probably there is no finishing school that can properly inculcate the necessary mien and mores to give them a fighting chance. [BBC iPlayer]

Starting somewhere

The little touches matter, like the effortless knowledge of the basic social codes of appearance, language and comportment, these things appear to carry much significance in getting access, getting ahead and getting noticed. For some, it comes naturally, for others, they need to have a place where they observe, appreciate, learn and exercise how it opens doors of interest, engagement, recognition and help.

This is an area where I hope I can begin to give back in gratitude for the good fortune and privileges I have had.

Thought Picnic: Not Crying MayDay on my Potential

Collecting in potential

There was one meeting last week, he had come to collect, they had managed the pound, shillings and pence in the thousand-weight for years and now wondered why things were not coming in for months – well, things were not coming in.

It could have been a meeting of great trepidation but the most important thing was just to tell in it as it is and have faith that they will believe, believe in I, believe in a future of hopes and expectations maybe with the past serving as a pointer to the future.

Indeed, we all have potential, but what is potential if no one will wait and someone would not assent to allowing for the potential to be realised – we all want to square and squaring up is a function of time and good fortune, blessings and miracles or even something others might call luck.

If I may by May

It sounds like a sob story but it is an everyday reality of coming back from the brink to a place where one can hold ones head up high being no prisoner, being no debtor, being no slave – being a being, a somebody with something of substance and great value.

He heard, he sighed, maybe that obvious stoicism in the present vulnerability spoke to him in ways that one could never imagine – we will look to May, one may work to May, by May things may be as they may in a much better state than now – we have found someone who believes in potential, seize the opportunity and begin to thrive.

You may lose on travel

The whole night was spent doing the numbers, figures never scrutinised before appeared in the sheet and the once blurred image shadowed by the mist of nonchalance suddenly revealed truths one once never bothered to review.

It those days, things just happened because the resources were always there to help them happened with the need to get involved – sometimes that lack of attention came at a costly price but that never made one bat an eyelid – now one peered and looked and observed and understood and learnt and knew.

The weather was inclement as the chipcard system robbed one twice in broad daylight without the hope of restitution, one would be told the system is foolproof; did I just see the system start up with the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system? I did, the most modern ticketing system is running like one was sending a rocket to the moon on coal – one sometimes humours the thief.

May is the time

Another meeting to attend planned from the week before, a continual put-off that needed to be put-on and gotten with. No stony faces but smiles, no condemnation but encourage but May is the word, may I and only might I till May have reprieve.

They saw some potential and were willing to wait it out till we may at May decide if one may by all means be able from May – one has potential, but it all begins to mean something more when there are others to believe with you.

And so in spite of all of the issues and circumstances, the words of the blog come back to those who could – Do you have a job for me?