Santiago Calatrava

Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is an internationally recognized and award-winning Valencian Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris and Valencia.

Early life & education

Calatrava was born in Benimámet, an old municipality now integrated as an urban part of Valencia, Spain, where he pursued undergraduate studies at the Architecture School and Arts and Crafts School. Following graduation in 1975, he enrolled in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, for graduate work in civil engineering. In 1981, after completing his doctoral thesis, "On the Foldability of Space Frames", he started his architecture and engineering practice.

Career

Calatrava's early career was dedicated largely to bridges and train stations, the designs for which elevated the status of civil engineering projects to new heights. His elegant and daring Montjuic Communications Tower in Barcelona, Spain (1991) in the heart of the 1992 Olympic site was a turning point in his career, leading to a wide range of commissions. The Quadracci Pavilion (2001) of the Milwaukee Art Museum was his first US building. Calatrava’s entry into high-rise design began with an innovative 54 story high twisting tower, called Turning Torso (2005), located in Malmö, Sweden.

Calatrava is currently designing the future train station - World Trade Center Transportation Hub - at the rebuilt World Trade Center in New York City.

Calatrava’s style has been heralded as bridging the division between structural engineering and architecture. In this, he continues a tradition of Spanish modernist engineering that includes Félix Candela and Antonio Gaudí. Nonetheless, his style is very personal and derives from numerous studies he makes of the human body and the natural world.

Recent projects

One of his newest projects is a residential skyscraper named 80 South Street after its own address, composed of 10 townhouses in the shape of cubes stacked on top of one another. The townhouses move up a main beam and follow a ladder-like pattern, providing each townhouse with its own roof. The "townhouse in the sky" design has attracted a high profile clientele, willing to pay the hefty US$30 million for each cube. It is planned to be built in New York City's financial district facing the East River. As of 2008 this project had been canceled; the Manhattan real estate market had gone soft, and none of the ten multi-million dollar townhouses had been sold.

He has also designed the approved skyscraper, the Chicago Spire, in Chicago. Originally commissioned by Chicagoan Christopher Carley, Irish developer Garrett Kelleher purchased the building site for the project in July 2006 when Carley's financing plans fell through. Construction of the building began in August 2007 for completion in 2011. When completed, the Chicago Spire, at 2,000 feet tall, will be the tallest building in North America.

Calatrava has also designed three bridges that will eventually span the Trinity River in Dallas. Construction of the first bridge, named after donor Margaret Hunt Hill, has been repeatedly delayed due to high costs, a fact that has sparked much controversy and criticism. If and when completed, Dallas will join the Dutch county of Haarlemmermeer in having three Calatrava bridges.

Santiago Calatrava was also recently hired to design Peace Bridge, a 130m pedestrian bridge to span the Bow River in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The bridge will cost approximately $24.5 million. The project was approved by city council in early January 2009 and is scheduled for completion in fall 2010. Public disclosure of Peace Bridge was made on 28 July 2009 to the public and praised as a sleek, elegant contribution to downtown Calgary. The design showed a sleek, tubular, single span red and white trestle, offering separate pathways for cyclists and pedestrians. The bridge is expected to serve 5,000 pedestrians and cyclists daily.

On 16 June 2009, it was announced that Calatrava would be designing the first building of the new University of South Florida Polytechnic campus in Lakeland Florida. This will be his first work in the southeastern United States.

Calatrava as sculptor

Calatrava is also a prolific sculptor and painter, claiming that the practice of architecture combines all the arts into one. In 2003, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City held an exhibition of his artistic work, entitled "Santiago Calatrava: Sculpture Into Architecture." Exhibitions of his work have also taken place in Germany, England, Spain, Italy and elsewhere.

Notable works

Completed

• Trinity Bridge, footbridge over River Irwell, Salford, England 1995
• Oberbaumbrücke, Berlin, Germany (1896) rebuilt and opened on 9 November 1994
• Alameda Bridge and metro station, Valencia, Spain
• 1983-1984, Jakem Steel Warehouse, Munchwilen, Switzerland
• 1983-1985, Ernsting Warehouse, Coesfeld, Germany
• 1983-1988, Wohlen High School, Wohlen, Switzerland
• 1983-1990, Stadelhofen Railway Station, Zürich, Switzerland
• 1983-1989, Lucerne Station Hall, Lucerne, Switzerland
• 1984-1987, Bac de Roda Bridge, Barcelona, Spain
• 1984-1988, Barenmatte Community Center, Suhr, Switzerland,
• 1986-1987, Tabourettli Theater, Basel, Switzerland,
• 1987-1992, BCE Place (atrium), Toronto, Canada,
• 1989-1994, TGV Station , Lyon, France
• 1992, Puente del Alamillo, Seville, Spain
• 1992, Puente de Lusitania, Mérida, Spain
• 1992, Montjuic Communications Tower at the Olympic Ring, Barcelona, Spain
• 1992, World's Fair, Kuwaiti Pavilion, Seville, Spain
• 1994-1997, Campo Volantin Footbridge, Bilbao, Spain
• 1996-2009, Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, Valencia, [Spain] View on the map
• 1996, Centro Internacional de Ferias y Congresos de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife ( Santa Cruz de Tenerife (province), Tenerife, Canary island, Spain)
• 1998, Estação do Oriente or ( Gare do Oriente), Lisbon, Portugal
• 1998, Puente de la Mujer, in the Puerto Madero barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 2000, New terminal at Bilbao Airport, Bilbao, Spain
• 2001, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. View on the map
• 2003, James Joyce Bridge, bridge over River Liffey, Dublin, Ireland
• 2003, Auditorio de Tenerife, the architect’s first performing arts facility, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
• 2004, redesign of Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Athens, Greece
• 2004, Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California, USA
• 2004, Three bridges (called Harp, Cittern and Lute) spanning the main canal of the Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands
• 2004, University of Zurich, "Bibliothekseinbau" library remodelling, Zürich, Switzerland
• 2005, The bridge connecting the Ovnat shopping mall and the Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson) in Petah Tikva, Israel
• 2005, Turning Torso, Malmö, Sweden
• 2007, 3 Bridges on the A1 Motorway and TAV Railway, Reggio Emilia, Italy
• 2008, Chords Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem, Israel, a light rail bridge
• 2008, Ponte della Costituzione footbridge from Piazzale Roma over the Grand Canal, Venice, Italy
• 2009, Liège-Guillemins TGV Railway Station, Liège, Belgium

Under construction/proposed

• Samuel Beckett Bridge, Dublin, Ireland
• World Trade Center Transportation Hub, New York City, U.S.
• Atlanta Symphony Center, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
• Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos, Oviedo, Spain
• Chicago Spire, Chicago, U.S.
• Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, Dallas, Texas, U.S.
• City Entrance Bridge, also known as 'Chords Bridge' Jerusalem, Israel
• 80 South Street, 835 foot tall stack of 10 condominium units on New York City's East River, starting at $27 Million each. [1]
• Medio Padana TAV Station, Reggio Emilia, Italy
• Maastricht University Campus, Maastricht, Netherlands
• Palma de Mallorca's Opera, Spain
• High-rise buildings on stilts on the River Liffey in Dublin [2]
• Caja Madrid Obelisk, Madrid, Spain
• Peace Bridge, Calgary, Canada
• New railway station in Mons, Belgium
• Train Station and Two Bridges at Denver International Airport

Calatrava has also submitted designs for a number of notable projects which were eventually awarded to other designers, including the Reichstag in Berlin and the East London River Crossing.

Never built

• 1991 Collserola communications tower in Barcelona. A tower shaped like a big white spaceship was proposed, but Norman Foster ultimately designed the tower.
• A campus building for Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. His design was dropped for a less expensive design [3].
• New cathedral for the Diocese of Oakland, California, USA. Preliminary design dropped in favor of that by local architect Craig Hartman (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, San Francisco).
• New bridge across Cávado River, Barcelos, Portugal. It was dropped due to lack of funds.
• Substitute bridge (Wettstein Bridge) across Rhine River, Basel, Switzerland. It did not pass the cantonal referendum. A less expensive (and arguably less innovative) bridge was built instead.

Recognition

Calatrava has received numerous recognitions. In 1990 he received the "Médaille d´Argent de la Recherche et de la Technique", Paris. In 1992 he received the prestigious Gold Medal from the Institution of Structural Engineers. In 1993, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a major exhibition of his work called “Structure and Expression." In 1998 he was elected to become a member of "Les Arts et Lettres," in Paris. In 2004, he received the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

In 2005, Calatrava was awarded the Eugene McDermott Award by the Council for the Arts of MIT. The Award is among the most esteemed arts awards in the US. Established to honor Eugene McDermott, founder of Texas Instruments and long-time friend and benefactor to MIT, the award was created by the Council for the Arts at MIT in 1974, and further endowed by Eugene's wife, Margaret. Since its inception, the Council has bestowed the award upon 31 individuals producing creative work in the performing, visual and media arts, as well as authors, art historians and patrons of the arts.

Awards

• 1979 August Perret Award
• 1992 London Institution of Structural Engineers Gold Medal
• 1993 Toronto Municipality Urban Design Award
• 1996 Gold Medal for Excellence in the Fine Arts from the Granada Ministry of Culture
• 1999 Prince of Asturias Award in Arts
• 2000 Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts from the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University
• 2005 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal
• 2006 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts from the Council for the Arts at MIT,(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
• 2006 Honorary Engineering Degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Designation as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in Davos
• 2007 Awarded with the Spanish National Architecture Award

Criticism

Calatrava's work in Bilbao has been criticized for impracticality. The airport lacks facilities and the bridge's glass tiles are prone to break and get slippery under the local weather.Entre losetas y y arquitectos 'estrellas', El Correo, 24 February 2007. In 2007, Calatrava sued BilbaoCalatrava lleva a los tribunales su guerra con Isozaki por los puentes de Uribitarte, El Correo, 22 February 2007. for allowing Arata Isozaki to remove a bar from the bridge to connect it to the Isozaki Atea towers. The judge ruled against Calatrava, on the ground that, although the building design is protected by the intellectual property law, public safety is more important than intellectual property.El juez absuelve al Ayuntamiento de Bilbao de la demanda interpuesta por Santiago Calatrava, El Mundo, 26 November 2007.. In a 2009 appeal he received 30.000€ in compensation. The Isozaki joint has been cited as bold and destructive.

Calatrava gifted the Municipality of Venice with the project of a new bridge on the "Canal Grande" in 1996. As of 2007, the project was still under construction. and has gone through numerous structural changes, because of the mechanical instability of the structure and the excessive weight of the bridge,[4],La Repubblica, 7 May 2007. which would cause the bank of the canal to fail. In 10 years the project has been inspected by more than 8 different consultants and the cost has raised up to three times the original expectations;[5],L'Espresso, 8 May 2007.. The work was completed in August 2008.

Exhibits

A special exhibition has been presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through 5 March 2006 [6]. Images from the exhibition.

Personal life

His nephew Alex Calatrava is a professional tennis player. His two sons have or are in the process of getting advanced degrees in Engineering from the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University in New York City.

References

Citations

Further reading

External links

• Official Website
• Santiago Calatrava News Aggregator
• Doctor Honoris Causa Universidad Camilo José Cela
• Great Buildings On-Line: Santiago Calatrava
• Unofficial website
• Calatrava's projects on the map
• Extended profile of the architect in the NYRB, December 2006
• The New Yorker, 31 October 2005, "The Sculptor"
• The Guardian, 17 January 2006, "The Gaudí Effect"
• Pictures and profile at Specifier
• Many pictures of Calatrava's Art on Trekearth
• Calatrava's 80 South Street condo design for New York
• 120 meters Obelisk project in Madrid
• The CAC and other Urban Projects in Valencia, Spain article at ErasmusPC
• CNN interview with Santiago Calatrava
• QuickTime VR panorama of the Guillemins railway station inauguration on 18 September 2009 Panography by Alain Hamblenne

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Categories: Great Buildings Architects | Architects | AIA Gold Medal Award Recipients