We Built This City

The dramatic, untold story of the world’s biggest creative rivalryThis is the epic, never-before-told story of two titans of modern industry, two utterly different visionaries who came to shape the world like never before. Richard Rogers and Norman Foster studied together at Yale University and entered the world of building design together at the back end of the 1950s. Two great friends and partners, their two minds and personalities couldn’t have been more different – and their distinct visions have manifested in the vast structures that today criss-cross skylines in London, Paris and around the world.We Built This City recounts the friendship, partnership and rivalry of these two legendary British architects, and explores how their lives and careers shaped British culture in the second half of the 20th Century. From working with Renzo Piano on the Pompidou centre, to the ongoing battles with Prince Charles, becoming part of Tony Blair’s New Labour project and then getting into bed with budding dictator Vladimir Putin – their story is an extraordinary Zelig-esque adventure through the halls of power and an utterly unique account of the power of individual will and vision.