Santiago Calatrava Bridges

Santiago Calatrava is among the most important and influential architects of our times. His candid architecture is polarizing yet unmistakable. The trademark of the Spanish architect are sculptural bridge designs that gained international acclaim as a symbiosis of elegant shape vocabulary and engineering masterstrokes and that shape the cityscapes in locations such as Jerusalem, Venice, Dallas, and Buenos Aires. The book is a special homage to his work: Santiago Calatrava in person talks about the visions on artistic-architectural philosophies behind his unparalleled bridge designs. He also contributes many descriptions of implemented and unimplemented works, which, together with first drafts, water color paintings, as well as high-quality photographs and renderings document the selected projects.

The first book to document the work of bridge designer Santiago Calatrava.

Renowned for being a universal designer, Santiago Calatrava has been a singular force in reviving an excitement for construction technology and infrastructure projects. Over the last two decades, Calatrava revolutionized the idea of bridges from utilitarian, mechanical instruments into elegant objects that enhance the sense of place and community of their settings. More than thirty celebrated bridges are featured here in drawings and full-color photography, including never-before-published projects such as the Woodall Rodgers Bridge in Dallas, the Sundial Bridge in Redding, California, as well as bridges in Barcelona, Bilbao, Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, Manchester, the Netherlands, Orleans, Paris, Seville, and Valencia."

No architect is hotter than Spaniard Santiago Calatrava, whose soaring, inspirational work grabbed international attention at the Athens Olympic Games. This sketchbook presents 30 projects over Calatrava's entire career, including his extraordinary bridges, through his watercolor drawings, building models and photos of the finished projects. Includes a CD documenting 30 more projects including sculpture and furniture.

Santiago Calatrava has not only revived the art of constructing bridges - his buildings as well transcend the purely functional and heighten the quality of their surroundings with their sculptural character. Calatrava first achieved recognition with the Stadelhofen train station in Zurich. His reputation grew with the completion of further innovative projects such as the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York), Teneriffa's concert hall and the Milwaukee Art Museum expansion project. Most recently he attracted worldwide attention with the 2004 Olympic Stadium in Athens.

The Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava is known around the world for his bridge constructions. They combine technology and aesthetics in a unique display of elegance. Concrete and steel achieve a new expressivity in his bridges.

Illustrated by the architect and in his own words, this memoir features drawings never seen outside Santiago Calatrava’s studio. Santiago Calatrava is an intimate insight into one of the world’s most celebrated architects. Calatrava first made a name for himself in the late 1980s, with delicately designed structures in Zürich that seem to grow out of the earth. He went on to create a series of highly innovative, iconic bridges across Europe and, in recent years, has drawn attention for such large-scale projects as the City of Arts and Sciences in his birth town of Valencia, Spain, and the World Transportation Hub at Ground Zero in New York. Written in the first person and accompanied by a wealth of sketches never seen outside Calatrava’s studio, this book reveals the breadth of his influences, and how they have combined with his background in engineering and architecture to inspire his signature buildings. Moving beyond a documentation of Calatrava’s architectural output, this book offers a rare opportunity for readers to explore the creative process of one of the world’s great architects. In this heartfelt memoir of an architect of singular conviction, Calatrava’s inspirations, lessons, and achievements will touch every reader, whether aspiring architect or lover of art and nature.