The City of Arts and Sciences

I have enlisted the quote "Hindsight is always better than foresight" as my defense, as to why it has taken me six months to update my blog. Defense and foresight aside, here I am. Right where I left off...

Ah, Valencia... I apologize mentally disreguarding you as a place of sunshine and oranges, only. In fact, I was suprised to find your oranges incredibly bellow par and your architecture surprisingly above.

The Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias' (City of Arts and Sciences, to you and me) name is a big call, and an enormous understatement. More fitting, I feel, would be the World of Arts and Sciences, because as soon as the antique, air conditioning-less bus we were traveling on took the crest of the hill, I felt as if I had left planet Earth.

I was faced with masses of curvilinear, white and blue structures. The first building I encountered holds such strength, set atop stairs, over looking the rest of the city. The following structures skeletal exteriors transition into the last dark blue building. Walking in the city is discovery... Feeling nothing short of Neil Armstrong, I was determined to find out then and there, who was responsible for this slice of heaven on Earth.

The answer: Santiago Calatrava, and Félix Candela, the project underwent the first stages of construction in July, 1996 and the finished "city" was inaugurated April 16, 1998 with the opening of L'Hemisfèric. The last great component of the City of the Arts and the Sciences, El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, was presented in October 9, 2005, Valencian Community Day.

Whilst it did take me six months to post this, I did spark interest in Santiago Calatrava... who was commissioned to design on the former World Trade Centers location "Ground Zero" for his sensitive and spiritual design. As for hindsight, it has proven the ability of this phenominal example of space, architecture and design to resonate in me.. and hopefully you, too.