Sir Norman Foster, architect of the Valencia Congress Center, was born in Manchester, England, in 1935. He studied architecture and city planning at Manchester University and obtained a master's degree at Yale University. Among Foster's best-known creations are the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank building in Hong Kong, the international airport at Stansted -- London's third airport -- Tokyo's Century Tower and the Commerzbank Headquarters, the world's tallest naturally ventilated skyscraper. Other major projects currently under construction are the German parliament building in Berlin, the redevelopment of the British Museum and the Citibank headquarters in London's Docklands area. He was knighted in 1990, and in November 1997 Queen Elizabeth II bestowed on him the Order of Merit, a special mark of honour conferred on individuals of exceptional distinction. The largest construction project in the world, Hong Kong's new international airport, with a terminal building the size of 10 Wembley stadiums, is nearing completion by the Mott onsortium led by Mott Connell and Foster and Partners with BAA plc, Britain's airports authority.

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