Santiago Calatrava

Sometimes you encounter such beautiful architecture, that you want to know all about the architect and his work. Santiago Calatrava is one of them! Born in 1951 near Valencia he is nowadays one of the most inspiring architects in the world and makes wonderful futuristic art.

“ I started out wanting to go to art school,” recalls Santiago Calatrava. “ Then, one day, I went to buy some things in a stationary store in Valencia and I saw a little book with beautiful colours. It turned out to be about Le Corbusier, whose work was a discovery for me. As a result of buying it, I switched to the Institute of Architecture in Valencia.

After his study at the Escuela Tèchnica Superior de Arquitectura in Valencia, Calatrava decided to begin postgraduate studies in civil engineering at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. This decision changed his life in many ways.

“ The desire to start over from zero was extremely strong for me. I was determined to set aside all of what I had learned in architecture, to draw and think like an engineer. I was fascinated by the concept of gravity and resolute in working with simple forms.”

In 1981 he started for himself in Zürich.

I made photo’s from his railroad station in Luik / Liège-Belgium, the three bridges in Hoofddorp-Holland en his amazing creations in Valencia-Spain. Unfortunately his ‘Campus Maastricht‘ project wasn’t realised because of the high costs.

Click here if you like to watch a slideshow in full screen HD quality (720p) on YouTube with beautiful music by the famous Dutch Jazz Pianist Michiel Borstlap (7 minutes) or click below for photo impressions.