Catching up on some news from while this writer was away: now that Norman Foster is looking to becoming a normal person once his "Lord" is stripped away, the realities of the tough economy are also apparently plaguing the starchitect, as it's been announced that his firm Foster + Partners is set to lay off more than 300 employees. Largely due to cancelled projects and other plans put on hold (including the embarrassing mistakes on the Harmon Hotel), without the revenue coming in, the company can no longer keep such a large staff, resulting in yet another hit within the industry, at the very, very top of the game. Here's a bit:

The move will see the company reducing its staff by almost a quarter and shows how the financial problems facing property markets around the world is impacting severely on related industries like architecture.

'A number of our international clients have fallen victim to the current economic climate and as a result some of their projects have been delayed or cancelled,' said chief executive Mouzhan Majidi.

Offices in Berlin and Istanbul will close at the end of March. With a presence in more than 20 countries and a turnover of £142m, Foster was widely considered to be well placed to ride out the recession.