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| Guggenheim Bilbao Museum |
Strolling around the streets of many cities in Spain you'll
notice that innovation and design are to be found in more and more of its
buildings. Famous architects such as Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava, Richard
Rogers, Norman Foster and Rafael Moneo have chosen Spain to build their latest works.
Here we present a few of these outstanding examples of 21st-century avant-garde
architecture.
Avant-garde architecture is striking and leaves its imprint
on the mind's eye. This is the case of the Guggenheim
Bilbao Museum,
in Bilbao, the Reina Sofía Art Centre, in Madrid, and the City of Arts
and Sciences, in Valencia,
but Spain
is also home to many more examples. Cities such as Barcelona,
Bilbao, Madrid
and Valencia
are obvious ones. If you are planning to come and explore their streets, then
make a note of these suggestions.
Madrid,
enthusiasm for everything modern
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| CaixaForum Cultural Centre |
'Madrid
has unconditional enthusiasm for modern constructions.' These are the words of
Richard Rogers, winner of the 2007 Pritzker Prize and designer of the Madrid Airport
extension. This can be seen in buildings such as the extensions to the Reina Sofía National Art Museum,
by Jean Nouvel, and the Prado
Museum, by Rafael Moneo.
They are both in Madrid's 'art triangle',
where the CaixaForum Cultural Centre was built, with Spain's first vertical garden.
Other architectural novelties in Madrid are the towers of the Las Torres
Business Area, four huge office buildings designed by prestigious architects,
located on Paseo de la Castellana; the Canal Theatres, a major complex for the
performing arts; and the Magic Box, a modern Olympic tennis centre.
Bilbao,
an open-air architecture museum
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| Bilbao station entrance |
Frank Gehry, Norman Foster and César Pelli are just some of
the leading international architects to 'exhibit' their works in Bilbao. Special mention
should be made of the Abandoibarra area, with avant-garde constructions which
include the emblematic Guggenheim
Bilbao Museum.
Bilbao
has an unswerving commitment to design. Take a look, for example, at its
underground system, whose station entrances have been designed by Norman
Foster. Examples of avant-garde architecture can be seen all over the city,
which is home to unique buildings such as the Health Department of the Basque
Regional Government, a construction which manages to convey an impression of
movement.
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| Kursaal Centre |
The Basque Country, is also home to many more examples of
avant-garde architecture such as the Donostia–San Sebastián Conference Centre
and the , both in San Sebastián; the Ysios Winery by Calatrava,
and the Marqués de Riscal Winery designed by Frank Gehry, in Álava; as well as
the Contemporary Basque Art Centre-Museum (Artium) in Vitoria.
Barcelona
and its avant-garde buildings
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| District 22@Barcelona |
District 22@Barcelona was born in 2000 as an initiative by
the City Council to transform 200 hectares of industrial land in the Poblenou
district into a hub of innovation featuring avant-garde architecture and modern
spaces. The Torre Agbar tower can be seen from practically any point in Barcelona, and is an
eye-catching cylindrical building which soars up from the 22@ district.
This is a place which combines tradition with modernity in
creations such as the new Audiovisual Campus and the Central
Park, a garden designed by Jean Nouvel to produce a range of
sensations through the play of light and shadow, and the perfume of the
flowers.
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| Marenostrum Tower |
The whole city is home to plenty of striking avant-garde
architecture. Besides the famous and eternally-modern work of Gaudí, Barcelona will surprise you with many unusual buildings
such as the Marenostrum
Tower, which has a
completely horizontal block, or the Golden Fish, designed by Frank Gehry and
located in the Olympic Village.
Valencia,
Santiago Calatrava country
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| City of Arts and Sciences |
The city's main emblem is the stunning City of Arts and Sciences, by Valencia architect Santiago
Calatrava. Nevertheless, there are many other avant-garde buildings, such as
the Reina Sofía Arts Centre and L'Assut de l'Or Bridge, both by Calatrava; the
Conference Centre, designed by Norman Foster; and the Veles e Vents building,
built for the America's Cup and finalist in the Mies Van der Rohe architecture
awards, to name just a few.
New architectural ventures throughout Spain
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| Castile-León Museum in León |
Avant-garde architecture can be found all over Spain. For
example, the Castile-León region is home to the winner of the 2007 Mies Van der
Rohe Award, the Castile-León Museum of Contemporary Art in León, the Miguel
Delibes Cultural Centre in Valladolid, the Museum of Human Evolution
in Burgos, and the Museum of the Roman Town of
La Olmeda, in the province
of Palencia.
Meanwhile, in the Region of Galicia, in A Coruña, you'll
find the Exhibition and Conference Centre, located right on the seafront, and
the unusual Caixa Galicia
building; and Santiago de Compostela is the site of the City of Culture. In Aragon, in Alcañiz, you can see the Ciudad del
Motor de Aragón sports complex; and Zaragoza still has two of the most
spectacular pavilions from Expo Zaragoza 2008: the Pavilion
Bridge and the Water Tower, as well as
the Third Millennium Bridge.
Oviedo, in Asturias,
is home to the new City of Oviedo conference centre.
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| Santa Justa railway station |
Highlights in Andalusia include the Medina
Azahara Museum
in Cordoba and
the offices of Caja Granada in the same city. And in Seville, the Santa Justa railway station and
the Public Library by Cruz and Ortiz are among the buildings which marked its
urban transformation on the occasion of the 1992 Universal Exhibition.
In short, innovative projects and new architectural solutions that will
surprise you with their originality and avant-garde style when next come to Spain
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