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Interior Designers: Masquespacio
- Area: 233 m²
- Year: 2014
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Professionals: Helix




Will the peeling shell of Santiago Calatrava’s Palau de les Arts in Valencia be saved by an innovative, new paint? Calatrava's $455.6 million project, which surpassed its budget four times over, has sprouted many defects over the years, but none more damning than its peeling facade - a defect that spurred the city of Valencia to sue Calatrava's office. However, Spanish paint manufacturer Graphenano has proposed an innovative solution: Graphenstone, a mixture of limestone powder and the allotrope graphene, which should just prevent further deterioration. Whether the solution could also relieve some courtroom tension, remains to be seen. Read more on Inhabitat and The Architect's Newspaper.





Built for the annual traditional festival called “Fallas” held in Valencia in March, the corrugated cardboard temporary pavilion was made out with 3.000 purposefully made corrugated hexagonal boxes as the only structural material. The main challenge for the project by architect Miguel Arraiz and sculptor David Moreno was the wind and the rain, because the structure should be at the urban space during at least 5 days. More images and architects’ description after the break.


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.