Photographing the Work of Santiago Calatrava

What do you do if you are in control of a famous medieval city with the industrial area of a dried out old river bed (the river diverted 50 years before to avoid flooding) scarring the landscape and positioned at the end of a creatively designed public garden. If you were English you would immediately sell off the land to private developers, relinquish all planning controls, and keep your head in the sand as there emerged the most unimaginative mixture of unnecessary office blocks, which will stand empty for decades, and an assortment of ill-designed houses that no-one will want to live in. If you are Spanish and particularly Valencian, and the river bed is the Turia, you will call in Santiago Calatrava, tell him he can have as much European money as he requires on the condition that he comes up with an imaginative and exciting public scheme, say a City of the Arts and Sciences. The original idea seems to have come from José María López Piñero, then Professor of the History of Science at Valencia University. Most of the buildings in the complex were designed by Calatrava with the excepion of L’Oceanogràfic, designed by architect Félix Candela. The result: one of the most talked about tourist areas in the world and the creative use of a public space for the benefit of the public. All this, of course, in a time of economic boom. Work has stopped on the three remaining skyscrapers, and with the recession in Spain showing little sign of easing, may not resume for the foreseeable future. The idea is a continuation from the early eighties, when the rest of the river bed running through central Valencia was turned into a public garden with sports utilities, most of it imaginatively designed:

That is the brief potted history of the complex. What are the problems for the photographer? Well seeing the buildings for a start. For most of the year the space is packed with tourists and amateur photographers like myself struggling to find the best view point. Last October I was lucky. October 26th was my last day in Valencia after a week at language school, it was sunny, and hardly a tourist in sight, all museums in Spain being closed on Mondays. I left my luggage in reception, grabbed my camera and set off for the new city.

This was my second attempt at photographing the area. The first had been in 2007 and was hindered by bad weather and lighting. I had got home, disappointed with the results and vowed I would have another go next time I was in Valencia.

I started at the Opera House, Palacio de las Artes Reina Sofía, which is difficult simply from the point of view that the best view involves standing in the middle of some pretty heavy traffic.

Then onto the rest of the buildings, working one’s way to the mouth of the Turia. What I hadn’t noticed on my first visit was how central L’Hemisfèric is to the realisation of Calatrava’s design. Whichever way you look at it you see the outline of some vast architectural sea creature, with the surrounding pools creating the illusion the river is still running. I am not an expert on modern architecture. I am aware that some of Calatrava’s work is controversial and that some think that his designs have become tired; but for me, this is a real triumph of imagination, interpretation and use of texture. It is a photographer’s dream site, with every change of angle showing up new possibilities.

I’m still not completely satisfied with what I have produced and will certainly have another go, perhaps later this year if I go back to the same language school. If you haven’t seen it, I strongly advise you go. I think it some of the great architecture from the end of last century.