City of Arts and Sciences
Calatrava's white sculptural complex of science museum, planetarium, opera house and aquarium.
The City of Arts and Sciences occupies the drained bed of the River Turia on the south-eastern edge of Valencia. Conceived in the early 1990s and built in stages from 1996, it was designed chiefly by the Valencian architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, who gave the complex its white concrete shells, trencadis tiling and reflecting pools. The first element, the Hemisferic planetarium and large-format cinema, opened in April 1998, followed by the Museu de les Ciencies in 2000 and later buildings that extended the site along roughly two kilometres.
Five principal structures make up the ensemble. The Museu de les Ciencies houses hands-on science displays beneath a ribbed glass nave; the Hemisferic contains a domed screen under an eye-shaped canopy; L'Umbracle is a landscaped promenade and car park under steel arches; the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia is the opera house; and the Oceanografic, the work of Felix Candela with Alberto Domingo and Carlos Lazaro, is one of Europe's largest aquariums. The Agora and the Assut de l'Or bridge complete the group.
Highlights
- Hemisferic planetarium beneath an eye-shaped shell over a reflecting pool
- Museu de les Ciencies, a 240-metre ribbed hall of interactive science displays
- Oceanografic aquarium with Felix Candela's shell-roofed pavilions
- Assut de l'Or cable-stayed bridge, the tallest structure on the site
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