Cristina Carrillo de Albornoz – författare

Santiago 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 he has drawn attention for such large-scale projects as the City of Arts and Sciences in his birth town, Valencia; the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro; and the World Transportation Hub at Ground Zero in New York. Originally trained as an engineer, Calatrava has, at heart, always leaned more towards artistic endeavours than purely structural ones: an entire floor of his residence in Zürich is devoted to creating paintings and sculpture, which he has pursued throughout his career. His influences range from art history and natural philosophy to antiquity, and he manages to combine these in buildings that are structurally highly stylized yet somehow timeless. While many books have documented Calatrava’s output over the years, this is the first to offer his own thoughts, in his own words, in a reading format. 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.

Santiago Calatrava’s (* 1951) encounter with the sculpture collection at the Glyptothek in Munich thirty years ago prompted him to create an extensive series of sculptures with the title Die Aegineten (The Aeginetans). This volume focuses attention for the first time on the sculptures and paintings of the famous architect and shows how he was influenced by Antiquity.Die Aegineten – 14 large-format sculptures made of wrought iron on a pedestal of aged oak – appear as modern, almost abstract variations on the ancient warriors of the temple of Aphaea. They are presented in an exceptional dialogue with the permanent sculpture collection of the Glyptothek and are complemented by a selection of 30 drawings, watercolours, studies and sculptures of different themes and series which show Calatrava’s interest in the human body and nature, which influences his architectural style.