weaken the Biennial Exhibition and distance it from the general public.
and transposes it to his projects, inspired by “constructions” such as the
Another more serious problem concerns the event’s structure. The Exhibition
human eye (Planetarium in Valencia), the wings of a bird (WTC Terminal;
was set by a class association (organized in themes more linked to produc-
Milwaukee Art Museum) and trees (Oriente Station, Lisbon).
tion goods than to reflexive categories) which depends on the entries of inter-
At the age of 53, he already has a remarkable production of works all around
ested individuals and on the judgment of a jury. In an analogy with plastic arts, it is closer to the salon than to the curatorial exhibition, closer to triage than to research, closer to the display window than to the essay. If, on the one hand, it is difficult to produce an exhibition of such importance,
Europe and has been recently “discovered” in the United States, where he has one project concluded and two in progress. Ambitious, Santiago endeavours to excel in each new work and affirms: “There are no hints to follow. I wish to be like a ship on sea: behind is the wake, and nothing is ahead.”
on the other hand it is necessary to admit that the result lacks a more articulated discourse, able to offer the visitor more generous resources to incentive the reading of the set of exhibited projects. It could be said the exhibition would have been way more involving if the
TENERIFE AUDITORIUM ARCHITECTURE AS SCENERY
selection criteria mentioned above were transformed into expositive categories that, among many other names, could be called “Design of excellence,” “Language investigation,” “New fields” and “Reasoning design.”
The first work of Calatrava devoted to performing arts is located in
In any case, the valuable features of the Biennial Exhibition are a great offer
the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Easily
for the production of countless derived projects that, through the stimulation
recognizable, the building is impressive for its dramatic forms and
of comments and reflection, might be, after all, the wisest way of making a
“stopped movement”, having already become, few months after the
much better use deserved by its gigantic potential.
conclusion of its construction, one of the city’s symbols
MASTERS OF ARCHITECTURE: SANTIAGO CALATRAVA
Winnie Bastian
Situated on a promontory facing the sea, the Tenerife Auditorium is located between the Santa Cruz port and the new Marine Park, designed to help revi-
MOVEMENT ARCHITECTURE Sculptor, engineer, architect.
talize a coastal strip that has been the site of industrial plants and oil refineries. The Government of Tenerife requested Calatrava to design a monumental and
Known throughout the world for the scenic impact of his structures, Santiago
dynamic building that would not only be a place for music and culture, but
Calatrava Valls was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1951. When a child, he attended
also create a focal point for the 2-hectare area.
the Arts and Crafts School of Valencia. He graduated in architecture from the
Externally, the building is formed by “shells” in white concrete, covered by an
University of Valencia in 1973. Two years later, the artist started his doc-
independent structure similar to a wave. Such dramatic curve, which became
torate in civil engineering at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), in
the auditorium’s mark, rises up to 58 meters high in relation to the concert hall.
Zurich, Switzerland, receiving his PhD in 1979.
The building’s form comes from the study of the human eye and lid, a recur-
After completing his studies, Calatrava became an assistant at the ETH and
rent motto in Calatrava’s work. “The eye is the true tool of an architect, and
started to accept small projects and participate of competitions, opening his
this idea ascends Babylonians,” he explains.
own office in Zurich in 1981. His first winning project, in 1983, was for the
The complex comprises a concert hall (1,660 seats) and a chamber music hall
Stadelhofen railway station, in Zurich. One year later, he designed and built
(428 seats). The chamber music hall, the technical facilities, the general ser-
the Bach de Roda Bridge for the Olympic Games in Barcelona; it was the
vices and the dressing rooms are located within the stepped plinth, made of
beginning of his reputation as a creator of unusual bridges. The TGV station of the Lyon-Satolas Airport (1989-1994), however, was one of the achievements that contributed the most for his international reputation. During that period, he opened his second office in Paris (1989), in order to facilitate the execution of the project and work. The same happened in 1991, when another branch of his firm was opened in Valencia, in occasion of the competition for the project of the City of Arts and Sciences buildings, still being constructed. The feeling of movement has been regular in Calatrava’s work. At the
basalt (the local volcanic stone). Side arches in concrete (50 meters wide each) frame the glazed public entrances. The main access to the concert hall is located on a raised plaza, beneath the concrete shell of the roof. Although administrative and service areas are air-conditioned, public foyers and circulation areas profit from the island’s pleasant climate: they are naturally ventilated by inducing a flow of air through the glazed areas beneath and between the building’s concrete shells.
Milwaukee Art Museum, though, the building really moves through a complex
The wing, a pure sculpturing gesture in steel and concrete, was pre-manu-
system of louvers.
factured in Seville and transported to Santa Cruz in 17 pieces, of which the
Besides movement, nature is a recurrent theme in the projects of the archi-
biggest weighs 60 tons.
tect-engineer, who searches for a new formal expression in the combination
Designed to rest upon only five points (one of them holds 3,500 tons and the
of organic lines and technological innovation. Calatrava observes the reality
other four hold between 400 and 500 tons each), the wing combines two