Futuristic buildings of Valencia

Preeti Verma Lal

Not always does one look for an eye on a dry river bed. Not just any human eye. But a gigantic eye on the remains of River Turia, which was deliberately diverted after a catastrophic flood in 1957. In Valencia, Spain, that eye is a beauty. Spread over 13,000 sq m, the aluminium awnings of its eyelids open to access the surrounding turquoise water pool. That ‘eye of knowledge’ is the Hemesferic, the centrepiece of the City of Arts and Sciences.

Within the eye lies an IMAX Cinema (more than 900 sq m of screen), a planetarium and laserium — the shutter of planetarium’s half-sphere folds collectively upward, along the curved axis of the eye, to reveal the dome, the ‘iris’ of the eye, which is the Ominax theatre.

The eye, however, is not the only building that sets hearts aflutter in Valencia. The El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe, an interactive museum of science, resembles the skeleton of a whale made of 20,000 sq m of glass, 4,000 panes, 58,000 sq m of concrete, and 14,000 tonnes of steel. The largest exhibition space in Spain, the museum houses interesting exhibits like Zero Gravity, Chromosome Forest, Space Academy and Marvel Superheroes.

Adjacent to the Hemisferic is El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, the opera house and performing arts centre. Nearly 70 m high into the blue sky, the opera house has a metallic feather outer roof as well as panoramic lifts and stairways that connect platforms at different heights on the inside of the metallic frames. Surrounded by 87,000 sq m of landscape and water, the feather and the pool lend a mystifying silhouette to the building.  

Across the white harp-like bridge lies Oceanografic, Europe’s largest aquarium shaped like a water lily. Designed by architect Félix Candela, the circular entrance has 26 m glass walls and an underwater restaurant. 

Known for creating poetics of movement in his buildings, architect Calatrava created L’Umbracle, entrance to the City of Arts and Sciences. An open structure over a car park, the Umbracle has 55 floating and 55 fixed structures that envelop a landscaped walk, open-air sculpture garden and handpicked plants that change colour with each season. The shadow of Umbracle falls on Agora, a covered plaza, which is still under construction.

The ensemble of six futuristic buildings, the City of Arts and Sciences is divided into half by a set of stairs that descend into the vaulted concrete lobby that has a transparent roof and concrete arches. The underground spaces are illuminated with the use of translucent glass panels within the walking path.

The ‘city’ began as a splendid thought in the mind of José María López Piñero, professor of history of science at the University of Valencia, to build a scientific museum on the sunken river bed. Naysayers called it a megalomaniac ‘work of the pharaohs’. Brick by brick and steel on steel, Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava created the City of Arts & Sciences, which is now most important modern tourist destination in Valencia and one of the 12 Treasures of Spain.

What to see and do

• Visit Plaza de la Reina (the Queen’s Square) which is located in the old town. Valencia Cathedral and the Holy Grail. 
• Plan a trip to the Silk Museum and the Silk Exchange. Also check out the National Ceramics Museum and the park on the old Turia riverbed. 
• Eat paella and turron; sip horchata, a drink made of tiger nut. 
• Pick a figurine from Lladro.
• Shop at the central market.