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Santiago Calatrava: The Latest Architecture and News

Museum Round Up: The Box is Back

Museum Round Up: The Box is Back - Featured Image
Clyfford Still Museum. Image © Jeremy Bittermann

In a recent article for the Denver Post, Ray Rinaldi discusses how the box is making a comeback in U.S. museum design. Stating how architecture in the 2000’s was a lot about swoops, curves, and flying birds - see Frank Gehry and Santiago Calatrava - he points out the cool cubes of David Chipperfield and Renzo Piano. We've rounded up some of these boxy works just for you: the Clyfford Still Museum, the Kimbell Art Museum Expansion, The St. Louis Art Museum's East Building, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien's Barnes Foundation, and Shigeru Ban's Aspen Art Museum. Each project begins to show how boxes can be strong, secure, and even sly. Check out more about the article here.

Calatrava Reveals Design for Church on 9/11 Memorial Site

The site of 9/11 has seen significant change in the last decade, from the addition of David Childs’s redesign of the One World Trade Center to Santiago Calatrava’s PATH station. It looks like the site’s transformation is set to continue - Calatrava recently revealed images of the new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, to be rebuilt across Liberty Street from Handel Architects’ September 11 Memorial. The images, showing a distinctly Orthodox Christian design, have already begun to attract criticism in the debate over placing religious institutions around the World Trade Center.

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First Section of Santiago Calatrava's PATH Station Opens in NYC

A portion of Santiago Calatrava’s $4 billion PATH station has opened. According to NY Daily News, the Western Concourse will now relieve New Yorkers from “cramped sidewalks and temporary bridges” crossing West St. with a 600-foot underground passage lined in “bright white marble” that connects the World Trade Center to the neighboring office complex formerly known as the World Financial Center. Once complete in 2015, the controversial transit hub will double as a massive shopping and retail complex, which aims to “transform” the cultural experience of lower Manhattan.

Calatrava to Build World's Most Expensive Transportation Hub

Calatrava to Build World's Most Expensive Transportation Hub - Infrastructure
WTC © Joe Woolhead

The World Trade Center Complex in Lower Manhattan is slowly progressing, now more than a decade after 9/11. The Memorial was unveiled on the ten-year anniversary of 9/11, while the Freedom Tower is well on its way to completion, proudly displaying the spire that was mounted just a few weeks ago. The site still is - and will be for many years to come - a maddening array of construction equipment, scaffolding and cranes that are working busily at the various components of WTC's rebuilding. Yet while all this development is moving forward, the cost of the construction is ballooning.

According to an article in The Observer, the site now boasts one of the most expensive office buildings in the world - the Freedom Tower - and one of the most expensive parking garages in history - the Vehicle Security Center. And to add to this grandiose display of New York City's perseverance over tragedy, Santiago Calatrava's Transit Hub - Port Authority's PATH station to New Jersey - has become an exceedingly controversial point of contention for its skyrocketing budget, now reported at $3.47 billion still two years away from completion. This may be one of the most expensive transportation hubs in the world, considering that its passenger volume does not justify this expense as much as its location might.

Join us after the break for more.

Santiago Calatrava Again Faces "Leaky" Charges

The architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava has once again made the headlines of Spanish papers - and, once again, for less than favorable reasons.

Calatrava's latest controversy is a lawsuit filed against him by the famous Bodegas Domecq winery, property of the Ysios Laguardia in Rioja, Spain. Both the Valencian architect as well as those involved in the winery's construction are being asked to pay two million euros to the winery, a sum that should help cover a renovation as well as the costs the winery has incurred over the last two years fixing the structure's leaky roof. The owner claims that the leaks have been creating a damp atmosphere (in a building where moisture control is critical for the quality of the wine) and thus damaging his business.

Four Architects Enlisted to Reimagine Penn Station

In an effort to “unlock people’s imaginations” about Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, the Municipal Art Society (MAS) of New York has challenged Santiago Calatrava, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, SHoP Architects and SOM to propose four new visions that exemplify the potential of the highly disregarded area.

The challenge comes amidst a heated debate on whether or not the city should restrict Madison Square’s recently expired special permit to 10 years, rather than in perpetuity as the arena’s owners - the Dolan family - has requested. This would allow time for the city to “get it right” and come up with a viable solution for the arena and station that would not only “improve the safety and quality of life for millions of people but also benefit the economy”. Think Kings Cross in London. With a thoughtful mix of public and private investments, the crime-ridden transfor station was transformed into a thriving cultural destination.

More after the break...

Calatrava Criticized for Valencia Complex

Calatrava Criticized for Valencia Complex - Featured Image
© Flickr user FromtheNorth. Used under Creative Commons

Praised for his masterful blends of architecture and engineering, yet criticized for rarely sticking to a budget, Valencia-native Santiago Calatrava is no stranger to controversy. His latest project making headlines is the largest landmark in Valencia and the second most-visited cultural complex in Spain: the City of Arts and Sciences.

More on the controversy after the break.

How Santiago Calatrava blurred the lines between architecture and engineering to make buildings move

How Santiago Calatrava blurred the lines between architecture and engineering to make buildings move - Featured Image
Milwaukee Art Museum

American author Robert Greene has shared with us an excerpt about the work of Santiago Calatrava from his newly released book Mastery.

We live in the world of a sad separation that began some five hundred years ago when art and science split apart. Scientists and technicians live in their own world, focusing mostly on the “how” of things. Others live in the world of appearances, using these things but not really understanding how they function. Just before this split occurred, it was the ideal of the Renaissance to combine these two forms of knowledge. This is why the work of Leonardo da Vinci continues to fascinate us, and why the Renaissance remains an ideal.

So why did Santiago Calatrava, now one of the world’s elite architects, decide to return to school in 1975 for a civil engineering degree after asserting himself as a promising young architect?

Continue reading for the complete article.

Ground Zero Master Plan / Studio Daniel Libeskind

Ground Zero Master Plan / Studio Daniel Libeskind - Image 23 of 4
WTC Site Night, Silverstein Properties, New York © Silverstein Properties

With last year’s opening of the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero and the near-completion of the World Trade Center One, Daniel Libeskind’s vision for the World Trade Center site is close to presenting the future of NYC’s downtown financial center, 11 years after the attacks. Studio Daniel Libeskind was selected to develop the master plan for the site in 2003, and since has been coordinating with NYC’s numerous agencies and individual architects to rebuild the site. The project, in Libeskind’s words, is a “healing of New York”, a “site of memory” and “a space to witness the resilience of America”.

Follow us after the break for more on the elements and progress of the master plan.

Infographic: Iconic Olympic Buildings

Infographic: Iconic Olympic Buildings - Featured Image

The London 2012 Olympics start today, and once again architecture is on the spotlight. With a big focus on reusable and adaptable structures, the lineup includes renowned architecture firms such as Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Hopkins Architects, Populous and Zaha Hadid Architects.

On this infographic we introduce you the iconic buildings of the Olympics since 776 B.C. until today! Follow our London 2012 Olympics coverage in its dedicated page.

'Santiago Calatrava: The Quest for Movement' Exhibition

'Santiago Calatrava: The Quest for Movement' Exhibition - Image 5 of 4
Touching the Wind - Courtesy of Santiago Calatrava, LLC.

Today marks the opening of world-renowned architect, Santiago Calatrava’s unprecedented exhibition at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Not only will Calatrava become the first contemporary architect to have a retrospective exhibition at the Hermitage, but this will also be one of his largest and most extensive exhibitions to date. Curated by Cristina Carillo de Albornoz and Ksenia Malich, the exhibition will examine Calatrava’s innovative style through his various artistic realms. From never-before-seen paintings and sculptures to celebrated architectural models and sketches spanning Calatrava’s 30- plus year career, the exhibition will give individuals a unique opportunity to explore the inner workings and creative process of this celebrated artist. More images and information on the event after the break.

Rising from Tragedy: A Conversation with Calatrava, Childs, and Libeskind by Andrew Caruso

Rising from Tragedy: A Conversation with Calatrava, Childs, and Libeskind by Andrew Caruso - Image 5 of 4
1 World Trade Center rendering © SOM / dbox studio

National Building Museum and Metropolis Magazine contributor Andrew Caruso takes you “inside the design mind” of three prominent figures in the 9/11 rebuilding process with this recent interview conducted at the 2012 AIA National Convention.

Heroic. Contemplative. Grieving. Victorious. The rebirth of the former World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan has engendered significant public reaction and reflection. With implications as complex as they are profound, it is not surprising that it has taken more than a decade to heal the urban scars of September 11, 2001.

I had the rare opportunity to sit down with three architects working on the site, Santiago Calatrava, David Childs, and Daniel Libeskind, at the recent American Institute of Architects convention in Washington, D.C., where they were honored along with four others, as “Architects of Healing.” We discussed their experience of reshaping one of the most culturally significant sites in the history of the United States.

Innovation, Science & Technology Building at Florida Polytechnic / Santiago Calatrava

Innovation, Science & Technology Building at Florida Polytechnic / Santiago Calatrava - Featured Image
Courtesy of Santiago Calatrava

Designed by renowned architect, Santiago Calatrava, the new Innovation, Science & Technology building at Florida Polytechnic University will establish the design scheme for all other structures within the campus’ master plan, which Calatrava is also responsible. Until the other structures within the master plan are built, the new Innovation, Science & Technology building, which just broke ground in March will also need to function as the campus itself; being able to accommodate various events and functions. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Thousands celebrate Santiago Calatrava's new Dallas Bridge

Thousands celebrate Santiago Calatrava's new Dallas Bridge - Image 7 of 4
© Marco Becerra

Thousands gathered Saturday to celebrate the grand opening of Santiago Calatrava‘s Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge that connects east and west Dallas seamlessly over the Trinity River. A parade of builders, including everyone from those to poured the concrete to Calatrava himself, were the first to march across the new Dallas icon, followed by nearly 16,000 other people. Although the bridge is still not quite ready for vehicular traffic, the city celebrated its commencement with an impressive display of fireworks. Continue reading for more.

Yuan Ze University Project / Santiago Calatrava

Yuan Ze University Project / Santiago Calatrava - Featured Image
Courtesy of Santiago Calatrava, LLC

The world-renowned architect, engineer and artist, Santiago Calatrava was recently commissioned by Yuan Ze University in Taiwan to design an ambitious new building complex for its campus. The ambitious project, which will consist of a Performing Arts Center, a new Art and Design School and the Y.Z. Hsu Memorial Hall, which is dedicated to the university’s founder, Mr. Yu-Ziang Hsu, will mark Mr. Calatrava’s architectural debut in the country. More project description after the break.

Trees of the Architects

Trees of the Architects - Featured Image
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!

Architecture City Guide: Barcelona

Architecture City Guide: Barcelona - Image 22 of 4
Courtesy of Flickr CC License / SlapBcn. Used under Creative Commons

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.

The crisis paralyzed the construction of the Calatrava skyscraper in Chicago

The crisis paralyzed the construction of the Calatrava skyscraper in Chicago - Featured Image

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.