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| "Hemispheric - Valencia, Spain - Jan 2007" by Diliff - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons |
The City of Arts and Sciences is an impressive complex located in Valencia, Spain. Created as a way to honor the melding of science, technology, nature and art, the buildings were conceived and designed by renowned Spanish architects Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela.
These architectural marvels are situated on just under a 2 kilometer stretch of land that was formerly the bed of the River Turia (after the great flood of 1957, half of the river was diverted and the rest converted to gardens, parks and walking paths). This glittering gem is like a beacon, a marvel to behold. It almost looks like something from a science fiction movie! Each of the six structures has "an endless capacity for entertaining and stimulating the minds of its visitors." I know that I am putting this on my bucket list! (Note to self: Must.Get.Passport!)
I really couldn't decide on which structure inspired me the most, so I included them all! (You know I like choices!) You can choose what you want to select for your inspiration this month!
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| "El Hemisférico, Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, Valencia, España,
2014-06-29, DD 71" by Diego Delso. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
This was the first of the buildings to be inaugurated in 1998. It is meant to resemble a giant eye - "The Eye of Knowledge" - and features an IMAX theater, a planetarium and a laserium. The brise soleil roof retracts (see a similar Calatrava in the incredible Milwauke Art Museum) and opens to reveal the spherical eyeball that houses the IMAX theater. A fun fact is that the acoustics of this structure are incredible with amazing echoes. If two people are standing inside at opposite ends, they can speak to each other clearly with the sound traveling along the rib of the unique structure.
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| "Museo Príncipe Felipe, Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, Valencia, España, 2014-06-29, DD 56" by Diego Delso. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
El Museo de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe
This building houses the interactive science exhibits that are there more to entertain than to educate. The shape resembles the skeleton of a whale.The exhibits are all graphically displayed and have included climate change, biometrics, the human body and spy science.
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| "L'Umbracle, Valencia, Spain - Jan 2007" by Diliff - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
This gateway to the complex is an outdoor feature that houses the Walkway of Sculptures with work by contemporary Spanish artists amid a garden of indigenous plant life that was chosen for the way it changes with the seasons.
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| "L'Oceanografic, Valencia, Spain 2 - Jan 07-cropped" by Diliff - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
This open-air park is the largest oceanographic aquarium in Europe and the third largest in the world. Home to over 500 different species including dolphins, belugas, sawfish, jellyfish, starfish, sea urchins, walruses, sea lions, seals, penguins, turtles, sharks,and rays, L'Oceanogràfic also features wetland bird species.
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| "El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Valencia - Jan 2007" by Diliff - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia
This impressive structure houses the opera and performing arts center. The building has a feather-shaped outer roof that allows for the cantilever effect of the overhang.
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| "Ágora, Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, Valencia, España,
2014-06-29, DD 58 Edit" by Diego Delso. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
Agora
This suspension bridge called Assut de l'Or Bridge ("The Dam of the Gold") connects visitors to the City of Arts and Sciences. The structure seen through the wires of the bridge is the Ágora, an outdoor amphitheater that can seat up to 6,000 for concerts and events such as the Valencia Open 500, an international tennis competition.
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| An alternative view of the Ágora structure |
Which structure piques your interest the most?
(And more importantly, who wants to go there with me!? ;-)
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To participate in the We're All Ears creative challenge:
Make earrings inspired by this inspiration.
Write a post on your blog.
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Friday, April 17th.
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Amazing structures! All of them. Really breath taking. I've never heard of them before. The pictures are beautiful - but I would LOVE to see them in person. I can't wait to see how others will transform these images to earrings! Thanks Erin! ~ Cindy
ReplyDeleteWow, look at all those gorgeous pieces of art!! Like Cindy I've never heard of some of them!! Beautiful inspiration!
ReplyDeleteErin, once again you amaze me with your varied inspirations.
ReplyDeleteThe interior struts that make up the architecture INSIDE of our bones, especially, our hip bones, look for all the world like the structural members of these buildings.
Once you think of it, well, duh, what else would architects use but curving supports that WORK.
I am going to make Opalized Dinosaur Bone for my earrings. I saw a piece in a pin the other day and I am all over it.
Dinosaurs, Mastodons, Elephants, Birds, all of us, have these sweeping, curving struts INSIDE of our bones. They are called trabeculations.
And every so often these fossilize and the spaces between the trabeculations fill with Opal....yep, that is where I am going with this.
Signed,
Susan, the science nerd
WOW! What fabulous inspiration!!! Very cool! Can't wait to see all the designs that these images inspire!
ReplyDeleteWow!!! Hard to pick but I'm up for the challenge!
ReplyDeleteAmazing. I'd have to say that L'Umbracle speaks to me most. Probably because of the plants, the resemblance to whale skeletal structure, and that it's part of a science museum. Great choices for inspiration.
ReplyDelete