City Of Arts And Sciences

by Arcspace | 01. Aug 2012

Cultural | Project

Model photo courtesy Santiago Calatrava Archive

The City of Arts and Sciences, developed by Santiago Calatrava, is a large-scale

urban recreation center for culture and science.

Set in the old dried-up river bed of the Turia, midway between the old city of Valencia
and the coastal district of Nazaret, the City of Arts and Sciences covers an area of
350,000 square meters.

Following a disastrous flood in 1957, the river was diverted along a canal to the south of
the city, and the dried-out riverbed planted as a 7 kilometer long promenade through the
center of the city.

L’Hemisfèric (Planetarium) was the first element to be opened to the public in April
1998. The Science Museum Principe Felipe opened in 2000, L’Umbracle (Parking
Structure) opened in 2001, the Palacio de las Artes, opened in 2003. Calatrava’s use of
pure white concrete and Gaudiesque fragments of shattered tiles, an important
Valencian industry, tie all the structures together as a whole.
Photo: arcspace

Photo: arcspace

The two principle buildings, the L’Hemisfèric and the The Science Museum Principe
Felipe, are organized around a raised promenade running from the base of the Palacio
de las Artes along the defining, longitudinal axis of the site, and offering views out
towards the sea.
Model photo courtesy Santiago Calatrava Archive

Santiago Calatrava
L’Hemisfèric (Planetarium)

L’Hemisfèric (Planetarium), the distinctive eye-shaped construction designed by

Santiago Calatrava, was the first element to be opened to the public in the City of Arts
and Sciences.

Drawing courtesy Santiago Calatrava Plan

Drawing courtesy Santiago Calatrava Section

Santiago Calatrava
Science Museum Principe Felipe

Photo courtesy Santiago Calatrava Archive

The Science Museum is a spatial tour de force, like the grand exhibition pavilions of the
past, it is a longitudinal building, resembling a prehistoric-skeleton, created from the
modular development of transverse sections that repeat along the length of the site.
Photo courtesy Santiago Calatrava Archive

Photo: arcspace
Photo: arcspace

Photo: arcspace
Photo courtesy Santiago Calatrava Archive

Conceived as the final element in the City of Arts and Sciences complex, the Valencia
Opera House (Palacio de las Artes) has been designed as a series of apparently
random volumes, which become unified through their enclosure within two symmetrical,
cut-away concrete shells. These forms are crowned by a sweeping steel sheath, which
projects axially from the entrance concourse and extends over the uppermost contours
of the curvilinear envelope. The resulting structure defines the identity of the Opera
House, dramatically enhancing its symbolic and dynamic effect within the landscape,
while offering protection to the terraces and facilities beneath.

Photo courtesy Santiago Calatrava Archive

The different volumes of the building are stacked between horizontal promenade decks,
which cantilever off the side of the structure. The fully air-conditioned auditorium,
located within the 1300 seat opera house, occupies the central core. This core is set
within an acoustically shaped shell embedded within the cluster.

Photo courtesy Santiago Calatrava Archive

Photo courtesy Santiago Calatrava Archive

Model photo courtesy Santiago Calatrava Archive

The facilities are connected to a music school situated along the southern periphery of
the site, which also houses smaller, individual practice spaces and administration areas.