Display Cases in Norman Foster Exhibition | Goppion

The largest exhibition of Norman Foster's work to date, hosted by the Centre Pompidou, Paris in 2023, explores the development of some 130 projects. Spanning six decades and highly eclectic in scope, many of Foster's most iconic and innovative buildings and masterplans are featured, including the Millau Viaduct in France, The Reichstag in Berlin, and his more recent, and ongoing, work on the masterplan for a post-conflict Kharkiv in Ukraine through his Norman Foster Foundation.

Exhibition Design

The creative process is a major strand of the exhibition's narrative - stories are told through a host of revealing sketchbooks, drawings, images, original scale models, and dioramas, along with many videos. Collectively they allow visitors to take a deep dive into the mind of a singular talent and the engine of a world-renowned architectural practice.

In Norman Foster's words: "Whilst designing the exhibition, it soon became evident that displaying the several hundred A4 sketchbooks and accompanying collection of film transparencies posed a problem because there were no products on the market to answer those needs. Accordingly, with a small project team of designers based in the Madrid headquarters of the Norman Foster Foundation, I conceived a system that would not only answer the needs of the Pompidou show but would have a wider universal application to museums, galleries, and libraries. I have always been impressed by Goppion's quality of craftsmanship and attention to detail, so we look forward to developing the system further with them.”

Custom-made Display Cases

Last year Norman Foster shared his concept with Alessandro Goppion, and Goppion Technology was delighted to be asked to realize a series of table-style display cases for the exhibition. The project comprised sixteen modular cases with internal lighting and four modular cases with backlit decks. In the Pompidou exhibition, those cases display a wealth of A4 sketchbooks and transparencies.

Designed by Norman Foster and a team from the Norman Foster Foundation and engineered by Goppion, the cases achieve a minimalistic appearance, while ensuring effective conservation performance in airtightness and climate control, as well as maximizing the legibility through lighting and inclination of the display decks.

Historically the relationship between Goppion and Foster and Partners has evolved over many years on projects ranging from Boston's MFA (2007) to the Cartier in Motion exhibition at London's Design Museum (2017) to the Roman Museum of Narbonne, Narbo Via (2021). The process of developing the concept created for the Pompidou exhibition has laid the groundwork for an extension of the Norman Foster Foundation and Goppion collaboration to create a new line of horizontal display cases designed specifically to protect and display books and archival materials.