By John Woodford

Ken Faulkner '91 is an architect for Foster and Partners in London, a firm with a soaring reputation for designing some of the world's most soaring and spectacular buildings. But, just out of high school, he began his career right on the ground, as a field assistant for the Albert Kahn building firm in his hometown of Detroit.

"Lots of people talk about the 'design process' in architecture school," Faulkner recalls in an interview during one of his periodic returns to campus, "but before I knew what that was, I had to deal with the whole construction sequence. That really shaped how I do things now, and that's how I got into architecture."

His description of his career is smoother than its actual course, however. He enrolled at Purdue University, planning to become an engineer like his father. "Purdue kicked me out in 1987 for being a poor engineering student," he says, "so I decided to try architecture at Lawrence Tech [in Southfield, Michigan] that fall and stayed there for two years. That was my first exposure to architectural design. Things went well for me there, and several people advised me to try to switch to the University of Michigan's architecture school, and I did."

A Marriage of Design and Construction
Not long after transferring, Faulkner took advantage of a year-abroad program in 1989-90 to study at the Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning at University College London. "That was the single most influential year of my career," he says. "Just being exposed to life in London was great. Also, the split between design and construction in American schools had bothered me. I always thought the two should be married. In Britain, it happened."

The danger of having a practical background like his, however, "is that you can focus too much on how things are customarily done or made." Faulkner tries to counteract any such limiting tendencies he may have by always trying "to design things that haven't been done before."

Faulkner went to the Harvard Graduate School of Design for his M Arch., completing it in 1995. "At the time, Harvard was more theory-oriented than I was, but it can be good to be in a position where you're bucking the prevailing trend. I found the atmosphere at Harvard similar to Foster's office in that they assume you're good if you're there."

The assumptions of others played a big role in Faulkner's decision to work abroad with Foster and Partners. "London is great," he says, having qualified last year as a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. "As a Black person I especially find it so. Britain has a history of a class system as opposed to a race or color system, so how people deal with you is based a lot on the way you speak, which means you at least have the benefit of the doubt until you open your mouth. If you show you know something by the way you speak, you're accepted as someone with something to say. Here in the States, you often don't get that benefit. No matter what you say or how you say it, you're always having to justify yourself when you open your mouth. There, I'm seen more as an American than anything else. I was hired because I was good."

Europeans Preserve History
Aesthetic comparisons matter as much to Faulkner as social ones. "The British approach allows more creativity from architects and engineers," he says, "The American solutions to architectural problems tend to be 'safer' than British or European ones." Among the causes he sees for the difference is the "more prescriptive legislation regarding building regulations in the States, as opposed to in Britain where regulations are open to interpretation and discussion with the Building Control Officers." Another factor is that "in all European cities, including London, the preservation of the existing heritage is not taken lightly. This results in a greater value being placed on existing buildings and the effect that new buildings will have on the existing context."

Watching People in Public
Faulkner also finds that "architects in the States have a hard time dealing with public space. They don't watch how people use or move across public spaces. And in the US there is a trend towards specializing in hospitals, conference centers, office buildings or houses. At Foster's we are lucky, because we do all sorts of buildings without its being formulaic. And we work in different countries. Going to England has let me escape the straitjacket of styles."

As an example of the advantages he has found, Faulkner cites his work on a three-building project for the Korean Samsung firm a few years ago. "When the project director was away, I pretty much had to take over. In America, to take charge at my age I'd have had to deal with a number of issues that rear their ugly heads here."

Just before the Samsung project, Faulkner had cut his teeth at Fosters on the six-building, 2.5-million-square-foot Al Faisaliah Complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. "The 28 of us who designed the buildings had to be a well-oiled machine," he says. "I worked on the cladding for a 250-meter tower and link to the other buildings—cladding is the British term for the external envelope or skin.

"At Fosters, we design everything from furniture to door handles to boats," Faulkner continues. "When I joined the firm in 1995 we were doing a solar electric vehicle for Kew Gardens and the longest aluminum-hulled boat in the world (the hull is 58 meters long), and at the same time, we were putting the finishing touches on the Millennium Tower. The construction phase of that project is on hold. At 1,265 feet it would have been Europe's tallest building. I was responsible for the top 17 floors."

The Five C's
Faulkner has returned to U-M's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning regularly over the years, most recently as the 1999 Martin Luther King Jr. visiting critic in architecture. "Ken came for a series of week-long visits," says Prof. Brian Carter, chair of the Architecture Program. "He especially enjoys working directly with students in the studios, and he is a great exemplar for them."

In a talk to U-M students a few years ago, Faulkner described what he calls "the five C's" that form the chronology of his career "as a guide you may find applicable to yours." The C's were:

 Construction. "My experience at Kahn helps me get into a project quickly because I know what happens on site. When I draw, it's enlivened by taking construction into account."

 Collecting. "Plunging into architecture at Lawrence Tech, I was exposed to many ideas and many buildings. You try these things on for yourself, to learn what you like and don't like; you learn who you are. Collecting to me means keeping an open mind that there are other ways to do things than the approach you first consider."

 Cities. "The year I spent in London as an undergraduate showed me the variety of things available to people in a vibrant city. I liked to walk around and photograph buildings I'd stumble upon. London offers a dense wealth of places—pubs, clubs, museums, galleries—with modern buildings set like gems amid this traditional context."

 Critical. "When I came back from England, I was very critical of the educational system of the United States, and critical of myself. I wanted to expose my weaknesses so I could strengthen certain areas and become a complete architect. I'm critical of my current office at the same time, though I'm enjoying working in it. Norman [Foster] is critical, too, and that's what keeps the office moving forward."

 Colleagues. "The people you work with are very important. I've learned more from my workmates than from my instructors or from people running projects. Look around you: the people you work with have a lot to offer."

Faulkner's current project is the new European headquarters for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in London's Canary Wharf area. "It will be Britain's largest owner-occupied building," he says, "and at 44 stories, one of the country's tallest. I've taken on the basements and other back of house areas. It's not the most glamorous of things to be involved in but is quite crucial to the operation of the building. Also it is exciting because my areas are the first to be built and every time I go to site, the core has grown by two more floors.

"I finally am in the situation that I wondered about many years ago at Albert Kahn, where I can answer questions from contractors with confidence because I am the person who made the drawing they are working from and am aware of all the decisions that have influenced the drawing along the way."

Towers of Glass
Norman Foster founded Foster and Partners in 1967. It has since risen to the world's pinnacle in architecture and design. Last year, Foster received the "Pritzker Prize, architecture's equivalent of the Nobel Prize, after completing his most recent masterpiece, the reconstruction of the Reichstag building in Berlin. He donated the $100,000 prize toward the education of architecture students.

On this issue's front page: MILLENIUM TOWER
Photo courtesy Foster and Partners		Foster and Partners London Millenium Tower project was a 92-story office tower on the site of the Baltic Exchange, which was badly damaged by an IRA bomb in 1992. At 1,265 feet (plus its mast), the building would be Europe's tallest. Construction is on hold. With a curved free-form plan and two 'tail fins' on top, the building's appearance would contantly change as different qualities of sunlight hit the continuous curves of the glass facade.

"I'll never find another firm like this one," Ken Faulkner '91 says. "Norman is in his mid-60s, yet still involved in every project." Foster is best known for strikingly sculpted towers of glass such as Frankfurt's Commerzbank, currently Europe's tallest building; the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation building in Hong Kong, the Sainsbury Center for Visual Arts in Norfolk, England, and the Carré d'Art in Nimes, France. Details about the firm are at Web site http://www.fosterandpartners.com/