Santiago Calatrava is a Spanish architect, engineer, sculptor and painter known for his sculptural bridges and buildings that blend advanced engineering with dramatic visuals. Calatrava studied architecture and structural engineering, receiving his PhD for a thesis on foldable frames. He established an architecture firm in 1981 that has offices in multiple cities. One of his earliest and most famous works is the Alamillo Bridge in Seville, built for Expo '92, which transformed bridge design into sculpture through its asymmetrical pylon structure. Calatrava's buildings also use natural, zoomorphic forms and his knowledge of engineering to create innovative structures in unique shapes.

1. “I have tried to get close to the frontier between architecture
and sculpture and to understand architecture as an art.”
SantiagoCalatravaArchitect,engineer,sculptorandpainter.
02 Popper
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Santiago Calatrava, in full Santiago Calatrava Valls,
born July 28, 1951, Benimamet, near Valencia, Spain), Spanish
architect widelyW known for his sculptural bridges and buildings.
Calatrava studied architecture at the Polytechnic
University of Valencia, Spain, from which he graduated in 1974.
The following year he began a course in structural engineering
at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich,
receiving a Ph.D. in technical science,1979, for a thesis entitled
“On the Foldability of Frames.””In 1981 he established his own
architecture and engineering firm in Zürich. He would later
open offices in Paris, Valencia, and New York. Calatrava
gained a reputation for his ability to blend advanced
engineering solutions with dramatic visual statements, in both
bridges and buildings. When Expo ’92 was going to Sevilla,
Spain, the city needed to have bridges constructed
to allow access to an island that would be
used for exhibitions. C. Walatrava’s
Alamillo Bridge (1987–
92), built for this
island that would be used for exhibitions. C. Walatrava’s Alamillo
Bridge (1987–92), built for this purpose, instantly received
international attention. The dramatic structure’s central feature is a
466-foot (142W-metre) pylon that inclines asymmetrically away from the
river, supporting a span with more than a dozen pairs of cables. ThWe
dramatic image, resembling a harp, transformed bridge engineering
into a form of sculpture that can invigorate its surrounding landscape.
Calatrava’s other innovative bridges include the Lusitania Bridge (1988–
91) in Mérida, Spain, the Campo Volantin Footbridge (1990–97) in Bilbao,
Spain, and the Woman’s Bridge (1998–2001) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In his architectural commissions, Calatrava used his knowl-
edge of engineering to create innovative, sculptural structures, often in
concrete and steel. He stated that nature served as his guide, inspiring
him to create buildings that reflected natural shapes and rhythms. He
was intensely interesteWd in the architectural use of zoomorphic forms,
a passion evident in such buildings as Turning Torso (1999–2005), his
unique ment tower in Malmö, Sweden. Its sculptural shape suggested
a twisting spinal column. For the Lyon (France) Airport Railway Station
(1989–94), he created a building that resembled a bird with outspread
wings; the interior skeletal steel frame reinforced this birdlike effect. The
bird allusion had symbolic meaning as well, since the station served as
the end point of the route from Lyon to the airport. Calatrava’s
other memorable buildings include a renova-
tion of the Stadelhofen Railway