Santiago Calatrava – Biography

(Santiago Calatrava Valls; Benimamet, Valencia, 1951)

Spanish architect. Considered to be one of the most creative architects of the moment, Calatrava designs are characterized by a futuristic air and technical and aesthetic innovation. Their extensive knowledge of engineering allowed him to specialize in the design of large structures, including its bridges, many of them famous.

He began studies at the school of Arts and crafts in Burjasot, Spain.
He studied at the school of fine arts of Valencia, Spain.
Title of architect at the ETSA in Valencia, Spain.
He studied engineering at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
Ph.d. in technical sciences from the Department of architecture of the ETH, Zurich, Switzerland.
Office of architecture and engineering in Zurich, Switzerland.

After attending evening classes at the school of fine arts and crafts in Burjasot, Santiago Calatrava began in 1969 the degree in architecture at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, graduating in 1973.

Shortly after he moved to Switzerland, to study civil engineering at the renowned Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich (ETHZ, by their initials in German), considered one of the best scientific and technological universities in the world. Between 1979 and 1981 are there doctorate in technical sciences with the thesisAbout the pliability of the structuresand also exercised the teaching activity.

In 1981 He opened his first Studio in architecture and civil engineering in Zurich. Affiliate in 1987 the Swiss Union of architects (BSA), Auguste Perret UIA received the award (International Union of architects) Paris; a second study established in this city in 1989, While the first monographic exhibition of his work was done at Columbia University, in New York, that would follow an endless series of similar samples in institutions around the world.