Lord Norman Foster is one of the world’s most pioneering, accredited and celebrated architects.

In 2013, the city of Marseille on France’s exquisite Cote d’Azur will become the European Capital of Culture and it has been announced that the British architect Norman Foster will be renovating Marseille’s port ahead of the city’s 2013 accolade.

From designing Monaco’s ultra-glamorous yacht club, to designing the World Port Centre in Rotterdam maritime architecture, Norman Foster is no stranger to maritime architecture.

But how exactly will the legendary British architecture transform Marseille’s 2,600 year old port?

Working in collaboration with the French landscape designer Michel Designer and Emmanuel Dujardin, reports are emerging that the three architectural geniuses plan to make Marseille’s port more accessible to tourists and residents by pedestrianizing several of the lanes that run along the waterfront where a new sandstone promenade will frame the shore.

Talking about the project in a press statement, Lord Foster said:

“I know the port….I want to make it better.”

The 64 million Euro renovations are expected to take eight years, with the first stage of the project to be completed in just nine months, in time for 2013.  Renovating the city’s ancient port is just one of the projects Marseille council has planned in a complete revamp of the city.

Additional makeovers will include extending the Veledrome, which will also be re-roofed in time for the European Football Championships will be held in Marseille in 2016, extending the stadium’s capacity to 67,000.

The building of the Mediterranean Regional Centre, which will house a 450-seat underwater conference room, has also begun.

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