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Architecture.

Culture & sport · Contemporary

City of Arts and Sciences

Santiago Calatrava · Valencia, Spain · 1998

Key featuresWhite concrete and steel ribbed buildings lined up along a former riverbed with pools.

Architect
Santiago Calatrava
Place
Valencia, Spain
Year
1998
Typology
Culture & sport
Movement
Contemporary
Region
Europe
See it on the wall

About City of Arts and Sciences

The City of Arts and Sciences (Valencian: Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, Spanish: Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias) is a cultural and architectural complex in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is the most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia and one of the 12 Treasures of Spain.

The City of Arts and Sciences is situated at the southeast end of the former riverbed of the river Turia, which was drained and rerouted after a catastrophic flood in 1957. The old riverbed was turned into a picturesque sunken park.

Designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, the project began the first stages of construction in July 1996, and was inaugurated on 16 April 1998 with the opening of L'Hemisfèric. The last major component of the City of Arts and Sciences, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, was inaugurated on 9 October 2005, Valencian Community Day. The most recent building in the complex, L'Àgora, was opened in 2009.

Originally budgeted at €300 million in 1991 for three structures, additional structures were added, contributing to a three-fold increase from that initial expected cost.

Shortened from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Drift onward

L'HemisfèricSantiago Calatrava · 1998L'ÀgoraSantiago Calatrava · 2009Palau de les Arts Reina SofiaSantiago Calatrava · 2005Museu de les Ciències Príncipe FelipeSantiago Calatrava · 2000Museum of TomorrowSantiago Calatrava · 2015ZubizuriSantiago Calatrava · 1997