Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Hong Kong, China, Axonometric and elevation

Norman Foster

1985

A precise axonometric and elevation drawing in ink and color ink on tracing paper by Norman Foster that sets out the HSBC headquarters’ prefabricated, high‑tech structure and demonstrates the architect’s intent to make building systems visible and legible.

What strikes you is the drawing’s cool precision and layered transparency—crisp ink lines and washes of color delineate an almost mechanical skin of trusses, service towers, and modular components so clearly they read like an exploded machine rather than a conventional façade.

The image crystallizes the high‑tech movement’s fusion of architecture and engineering: Foster’s HSBC scheme popularized exposing services, modular construction, and a corporate modernity that reshaped late‑20th‑century skyscraper design worldwide.

Art Terms

Architectural drawing Elevation drawing Architecture Drawing Ink Prefabrication Built environment

Exhibitions

Three New Skyscrapers

1983

Built in USA: Post-War Architecture

1953

Built in the U.S.A., 1932–44

1944

Transformations in Modern Architecture

1979