Renowned UK architect Norman Foster to design memorial to honour Queen Elizabeth II
Renowned UK architect Norman Foster has been chosen to design Britain's national memorial for Queen Elizabeth II.
The memorial, which will be in St James' Park near Buckingham Palace, will symbolise unity and commemorate her historic seven-decade reign.
Foster, who was personally honoured by the queen in 1997, described the opportunity as an 'honour and a privilege'.
Renowned UK architect Norman Foster has won a competition to design Britain's national memorial to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Famed for designs that have fused technology and nature and transformed modern cityscapes, Foster, 90, said the opportunity was an 'honour and a privilege'.
The memorial will include a statue of the queen, a keen horsewoman, on horseback and another of her arm in arm with her late husband, Prince Philip.
Elizabeth, Britain's longest-serving monarch, died in September 2022 at the age of 96 after more than 70 years on the throne.
She was succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III.
The memorial in St James' Park next to Buckingham Palace will also include a glass bridge inspired by the queen's wedding tiara.
'At the heart of our masterplan is a translucent bridge symbolic of her majesty as a unifying force, bringing together nations, countries, the Commonwealth, charities and the armed forces', Foster said in a statement.
Foster has been shaping urban landscapes since the 1960s and won the Pritzker Prize, the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in architecture, in 1999.
His statement projects include Apple's giant ring-shaped headquarters in California, London's Wembley Stadium and Millennium Bridge, and Berlin's Reichstag.
Foster was personally appointed to the Order of Merit by the Queen in 1997, an elite group of no more than 24 people honoured for their contribution to the arts, learning, literature and science.
The final plans for the memorial will be unveiled next year.
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