He is the man behind the Turning Torso in Malmö and the forthcoming UAE Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020. In this episode of Interview Euronews’ Jane Witherspoon speaks to renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, whose Museum of Tomorrow in Rio has been described as one of the best examples of sustainable architecture.
For anyone who has ever visited Valencia, Barcelona, Malmö, Lyon or Rio the chances are that you’ve seen some of the buildings designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. His designs are often groundbreaking and decorate the skylines of those cities and many more around the world.
ADVERTISEMENTIt was during a visit to Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris that he had his eyes opened to the possibility of a career in architecture, “the light was entering from one of the rose windows in Paris, you see. Full of colour, full of light and I opened my eyes to the fact that architecture is also an art’, he told Euronews.
The ’starchitect’ is currently working on the Dubai Creek Tower, which will be the tallest tower in the world when it is completed surpassing the Tokyo Skytree. Mr. Calatrava said that he took his inspiration for its design from a flower. In addition, he’s also currently working on the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2020. “I tried to bring something who in my eyes represent the essence or part of the essence of their culture. So I took a bird. I took a falcon with open wings, you see, and out of the idea of the falcon merged the idea of the pavilion,” he said.
Calatrava says that modern day architecture continues to push boundaries thanks to today’s materials such as carbon fibre which ‘can change the way of the conception of architecture and can deliver new shapes.’
The Valencian born architect who credits his team and his wife’s support to his success hopes he work till he dies adding, “if I can afford that I will work until the last day of my life.”
