Valencia's favorite son, a man who has merged architecture and engineering into designs that (occasionally) transcend the limitations of both. Graceful bridges, train stations, museums- all white structure and glass. Structures that often appear in motion and, as of late, often actually move. There are no other (big name) architects working today who are able to capture his style- not without precedent (see Pier Luigi Nervi and Eero Saarinen) but certainly timeless enough to be immune from whatever trends may come and go.

Quadracci Pavilion at the Milwaukee Museum of Art
(2001) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

A relatively small addition to an understated Eero Saarinen building, the Quadracci Pavilion, with its heroic, moving brise soliel quickly makes you forget that there's anything else in Wisconsin.

Click here to go to the MAM site. After seeing the brise soliel in action, there's a surprisingly strong collection to see in the old building. Worth any (perceived) trouble

BCE Place
(1992) Toronto, Ontario, Canada

What could have been just a small, infill atrium space between downtown office buildings, the Hockey Hall of Fame and a very popular Moevenpick Marche Restaurant becomes a transcendent soaring nave of glass and steel.

Campo Volatin Bridge
(1998) Bilbao, Spain

A few minutes walk from Frank Gehry's "Look at me!" Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Santiago Calatrava's (comparably) little footbridge reminds you yet again just how beautiful good structural engineering can be.

Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
(1991-2004) Valencia, Spain

In his hometown, Santiago Calatrava is designing an architectural theme park complete with an opera house, a botanical garden and (of course) a giant blinking eyeball. Not as much fun as it sounds.

Click here to go to the City of Arts and Sciences official site, available in English, Spanish and (of course) Catalan

Santiago Calatrava: Complete Works
By Alexander Tzonis
(2004) Rizzoli

Everyone loves Santiago Calatrava, although it might be a bit early to publish a book called Complete Works- considering that he is still alive and working....
(read more)

Calatrava Bridges
by Kenneth Frampton
Publisher: Birkhauser;
2nd edition (December 1996)

Santiago Calatrava-Art Works: Laboratory of Ideas, Forms and Structures
by Michael Levin, Santiago Calatrava
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; (February 2003)

Santiago Calatrava: The Poetics of Movement
by Alexander Tzonis
Publisher: Universe Books; ; (November 1999)

See more recommended books at books.ArBITAT.com