Swiss Re London Headquarters is a landmark 40-storey office building in the heart of London’s financial centre, developed by Swiss Re and designed by architects Foster and Partners. Located on the former site of the Baltic Exchange, the distinctive form of the building adds to the cluster of tall buildings. This London’s first ecological tall building is instantly recognisable, rooted in a radical approach by technically, architecturally, socially and spatially.

Swiss Re, as the one of the worlds leading reinsurance companies, provides 76,400 sq m of accommodation, including offices in the tower and retail space at ground level, opening onto the landscaped plaza, and it’s open to public. Dining and events facilities are at the top. The building has a circular plan that widens as it rises from the ground and then tapers towards the apex to respond to the demands of the small site, which makes it appear less bulky than a rectilinear building of equivalent floor area.

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In 1992 Foster and Partners was one of fourteen non-German practices invited to enter the commission to rebuild the Reichstag. Norman Foster won the competition after a second stage in 1993 and the reconstruction began following Christos and Jeanne-Claudes Wrapped Reichstag project of July 1995. Foster proposed a scheme which combined preservation and reinstatement with radical departure. The buildings transformation is rooted in four issues: the Reichstag’s significance as a democratic forum, a commitment to public accessibility; sensitivity to history; and a rigorous environmental agenda.

Most architectural history is bad history. Buildings and styles come and go almost in a world of their own. Intent on cataloguing their formal and spatial attributes, historians generally pay little attention to the larger political and social events that ultimately lend them meaning, and frequently change it. The Reichstag in Berlin is one building that defies the conventional narrow stylistic focus, compelling historian critic alike to reverse their normal approach in favor of a broader perspective.

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Kazakhstan has announced their newest architectural project for Astana, its capital: a gigantic tent containing an indoor city, designed by Norman Foster, a British architect. Called Khan Shatyry, or tent of the descendants of Genghis Khan, it is being made from special material that absorbs sunlight to create the effect of summer inside. Set to become the center of urban activities for the capital of Kazakhstan, at the northern edge of the new city axis, the building rises from a 200m elliptical base peaking on the top skyline of Astana.

The 150m-high (500ft) transparent permanent tent will be unbelievably built in approximately 12 months (?!). It will contain a cluster ~city inside city~ roughly the size of ten football pitches, about 100,000m². The concept is how to provide a sheltered environment embracing an urban-scale internal park, shopping and entertainment venue. Locals have called the building as “The Giant Yurt” and hope that it will improve the limited social life in the city.

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