At the western end of the winding riverbed park Les Jardin del Turia, is this city within a city from the mind of Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, who with several prominent collaborators, created this magnum opus.
La Ciudad De Las Artes y Ciencias
Oculus
If the neo-futuristic flow of the buildings look familiar at all to you, you may have been to the new World Trade Center in New York, and seen his work in the Transportation hub known as The Oculus.
Origins
The City of Arts and Science, opened in 1998, covers almost two kilometres of the former Turia riverbed and an area of 350,000 square meters. The initial budget of 164 million euros, ballooned to more than 1,240 million euros due to several cost overruns and various redesigns. It comprises seven separate structures.
Oceanogràfic
The Oceanogràfic is the largest aquarium in Europe at 110,000 m2 and with 42 million liters of water. It contains seven different marine environments and almost 45,000 specimens of at least 500 different species. Its lily-shaped cover is the work of the Valencian architect Adrián Peláez Coronado. The structural design of the roofs is by engineers Alberto Domingo and Carlos Lázaro.
Hemisfèric
The Hemisfèric is a digital 3D cinema, with a huge 900 metre concave screen, which almost completely surrounds spectators. Several films are screened daily, mainly 45 minute educational documentaries.
Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe
The Science Museum encourages hands on contact on it’s interactive exhibits.
Palau de les Artes Reina Sofia
The Palau de les Artes looks like a Spartan helmet.
From October to November, its programme includes operas, concerts, zarzuela and ballet.
Umbracle
The Umbracle is a huge, open-access garden covering more than 17,000 m2. It houses the Paseo de las Esculturas, an open-air art gallery with sculptures by contemporary artists such as Miquel Navarro, Francesc Abad and Yōko Ono, among others. It also contains the Astronomy Garden.
Agora/CaixaForum
The Agora CaixaForum is a multipurpose space that hosts temporary and permanent exhibits, live music, projections, conferences and shows.
Pont L’Assut d’Or
The Assut d’Or Bridge crosses the former riverbed of the River Turia, between the Science Museum and the Ágora. There are several lanes for traffic in both directions and a pedestrian bridge in the centre connecting the two banks of the Turia Garden. This structure is 125 m high (127 if you count its lightning rod), and is the highest point in the city.
Final Note
Calatrava considers Antonio Gaudí (of La Sagrada Familia de Barcelona fame) a major influence on his design style, which – like that of Gaudí – attempts to bring elements of nature into architecture. Both merge the fields of architecture and engineering to create fantastic buildings that blur the line between art and function.
La Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias
Av. del Professor López Piñero, 7, 46013 València, Valencia
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