Via The All Nighter

We found this great image from The All Nighter – a tumblr dedicated to students who want to share and prospective students who would like to know about the architecture studio experience. The ArchDaily team would like to wish you a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!

Courtesy of Santiago Calatrava, LLC

It was with much enthusiasm that Denver International Airport officials announced Santiago Calatrava as the architect for the new $650 million expansion that included a hotel, public plaza, and commuter-rail station. However, Calatrava is now withdrawing himself from the project only a year later. Numerous concerns have been cited as the reason for his departure including “financial constraints, unnecessary time delays, and deep divisions” between his design team, DIA, and Parsons International Group as quoted by his wife and business manager Robertina in a letter to DIA manager Kim Day. read more »

© www.flickr.com / Jaume Meneses

The Bac de Roda Bridge by Santiago Calatrava marks his first foray into bridge design. Part of a larger development plan in preparation for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, the bridge functions as both a symbolic and physical connection to two previously disjointed districts; Sant Marti and Sant Andreu. More information after the break. read more »

This week, with the help of our readers, our Architecture City Guide is headed to Barcelona. We recently featured an engaging video where Wiel Arets half jokingly said Barcelona is fantastic but boring. He continued to say as soon as Sagrada Família is finished Barcelona is done; there is nothing left to do there (10:50). Arets can say what he wants about Barcelona supposedly being boring, but our city guide doesn’t reflect this. Barcelona is filled with fantastically expressive architecture that springs from its proud Catalan culture. It was impossible to feature all our readers suggestions in the first go around, and we did not even come close to including some of the most iconic building such as Casa Milà. Thus we are looking to add to our list of 24 in the near future. Further more there are so many fabulous buildings on the drawing board or under construction, i.e. the projects in the @22 district, we’ll most likely be updating this city guide for quite awhile, regardless of Sagrada Família’s completion.

Take a look at our list with the knowledge it is far complete and add to it in the comment section below.

The Architecture City Guide: Barcelona list and corresponding map after the break.

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Courtesy of Santiago Calatrava, LLC

Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava has unveiled his preliminary designs for the Denver International Airport’s (DIA) south terminal redevelopment program. The concept for the redevelopment will not only enhance the airport’s connectivity and functionality, but is also expected to create more than 6,600 jobs.
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Check out the latest video of Santiago Calatrava’s transit hub at the World Trade Center site, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal and funded by Brookfield Properties. Back in 2004, Calatrava first unveiled his vision for the transportation hub – a “mega-station” which will include PATH services and 12 subway lines – and it seems that we’ll still have to wait until 2014 for the project to be fully completed.   Although certain aspects of the design have been modified since 2004, the overall vision embodies Calatrava’s original conceptual ideas.  At $3.2 billion dollars, the station is an expensive, but vital, component of the new WTC complex.    Millions of commuters, tourists, and residents pass through the station every day, filtering in and out of one of the most powerful financial districts in the world.   The video’s alluring imagery of the main concourse piques our interest as Calatrava has opened the roof to allow natural light to flood the interior.  This strategy creates a more transparent and open space, which is unusual for a New York subway station, that can also be enjoyed from above as people in the towers look down upon the hub.  We are anxious to wait on the sleek platforms and walk down the commercial connection between the hub and the Winter Garden, but we’ll just have to patiently wait to see the final result!

Courtesy of Santiago Calatrava, LLC

Calatrava’s talent has produced sculpturesque bridges and transportation hubs worldwide, and now, his sustainably-focused museum for Rio de Janeiro will also gain international attention.   The architect/engineer has just unveiled his design which will be part of a larger urban design project to transform Rio’s waterfront into a thriving cultural and residential community.

More images and more about the museum after the break. read more »

Santiago Calatrava is known for his elegant bridges that combine structure with a sculpture-esque touch.  Yet, could his iconic style be changing?  His latest design for Calgary, Canada is a red and white tubular structure, an aesthetic quite unlike of his earlier works.  The new footbridge, slated for completion in 2010, will span the Bow River and aid approximately 5,000 people a day commuting in and out of the city on foot or on bike.

More about the bridge after the break.

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The “Spire”, the skyscraper designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, was going to be the tallest building in the United States. That title will have to wait, at least until the economic crisis affecting construction all over the world starts having better days.

“We’re exploring all of the financial options with the economy as challenging as it is, but clearly this is long-term,” project spokeswoman Kim Metcalfe said. “We’re working toward the success of the building. We continue to actively market the building. Clearly, the construction of the building is on pause, but nothing else about the building has stopped.”

The break in construction has left a hole 110 feet wide and 76 feet deep at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive, making the Spire a worldwide symbol of the recession and shut-down credit markets.

For more information, read this article on the Chicago Tribune.

Provincial Court of Bizkaia has sentenced Bilbao City Hall to pay a 30,000 euros compensation to architect Santiago Calatrava for modifying the Zubi-Zuri bridge, by adding a gateway to access Isozaki Towers. The court considered that the “general interest” doesn’t prevail over the “moral right” of the author.

Calatrava demanded 250,000 euros, but if the gateway added by the City Hall wasn’t retired, he demanded 3.000,000 euros. However, the court said although Calatrava’s bridge was indeed modified, it wasn’t affected on it’s track, structure and access. The gateway was not removed, and Calatrava got 30,000 euros.