The Willis Faber Dumas Building in Ipswich was designed by Norman Foster (1975). It has an amoeboid floor-plan, which is more organic than most High Tech architecture. The building is supported with internal columns, which means the wall is just a screen of glass. The curvilinear form is a celebration of engineering and technology.
Foster designed the Grand Viaduc du Millau in France, a bridge with a 2.5km span. It was built by the French construction company Eiffage, the company started by Gustave Eiffel who built the Eiffel Tower. It cost $400 million, which will be repaid by tolls over 75 years. This is a pure celebration of engineering. At its highest point it is more than 50 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower.
The deck for the road is made from high-grade steel instead of concrete, which allows it to be reduced to a very slender strip. Transparent aerodynamic windscreens protect vehicles from high winds and give it a transparent feel. So it almost dissolves into the sky. Norman Foster says the experience should be like flying by car, which is another example of him being in thrall to technology and aviation.
