July 28, 1951 - Present
Birth Place : Valencia, Spain
Santiago Calatrava Valls (born July 28, 1951) is a Spanish architect whose work has become increasingly popular worldwide.
Calatrava was born in Valencia, Spain, where he pursued undergraduate studies at the Architecture School and Arts and Crafts School. Following graduation in 1975, he enrolled in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, Switzerland for graduate work in civil engineering. Calatrava was influenced by the French/Swiss architect Le Corbusier, whose Notre Dame du Haut chapel caused Calatrava to examine how complex form could be understood and generated in architecture. In 1981 after completing his doctoral thesis, "On the Foldability of Space Frames", he started his architecture and engineering practice.
Calatrava's unique, creative, and highly influential style combines a striking visual architectural style that interacts harmoniously with the rigid principles of engineering. His work often draws on form and structure found in the natural world, and can be described as anthropomorphic. His works have elevated the design of some civil engineering projects such as bridges to new heights. He has designed numerous train stations, heralded for their bright, open, and easily-traveled spaces.
While he is primarily known as an architect, Calatrava is also a prolific sculptor and painter, claiming that the practice of architecture combines all the arts into one.
Calatrava's first United States work was the Quadracci Pavilion addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum.
One of his newest projects is a residential skyscraper named after its own address, composed of 10 townhouses in the shape of cubes stacked on top of one another. The townhouses move up a main beam and follow a ladder-like pattern, providing each townhouse with its own roof. The "townhouse in the sky" design has attracted a high profile clientele, willing to pay the hefty US$30 million for each cube. It will be built in New York City's financial district facing the East River.
He has also designed a skyscraper for 400 North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, formerly known as the Fordham Spire. Originally commissioned by Chicagoan Christopher Carley, Irish developer Garrett Kelleher purchased the building site for the project in July of 2006 when Carley's financing plans fell through. Kelleher is currently in negotiations with Carley and Calatrava to purchase Calatrava's design for the building. Kelleher's close working relationship with the Anglo Irish Bank, and his own wealth which will allow him to personally finance 100 percent of the equity in the project, will make it easier for Kelleher to build this project than it was for Carley. Kelleher plans to begin construction of the building in Spring of 2007 for completion in 2010. When completed, 440 North Lakeshore Drive will, at 2,000 feet tall, be the tallest building in North America.
Calatrava has also designed three bridges that will eventually span the Trinity River in Dallas, the first of which will commence construction in December, 2005. When completed (target date 2010), Dallas will join the Dutch county of Haarlemmermeer in having three Calatrava bridges.
Calatrava was awarded the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts. The Award is among the country's most esteemed arts awards. Established to honor Eugene McDermott, founder of Texas Instruments and long-time friend and benefactor to MIT, the award was created by the Council for the Arts at MIT in 1974, and further endowed by Eugene's wife, Margaret. Since its inception, the Council has bestowed the award upon 31 individuals producing creative work in the performing, visual and media arts, as well as authors, art historians and patrons of the arts.
Articles source : WikiPedia
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