The art of the possible

Santiago Calatrava’s neo-futuristic architecture, be it museums, churches, modern high-rises or his famous bridges, combines organic forms with advanced technical solutions and strives boldly into the future. »Calatrava.Complete Works 1979-Today« offers an all-encompassing insight into the vision of one of the most innovative architects of our time. Published by Taschen Verlag.

Since its founding in 1980 under the direction of Benedikt Taschen, Cologne-based Taschen Verlag has been regarded as instrumental in the emergence of the cult of the coffee table book and its rise to collector’s item status. Not least as a beautifully designed interface between art and knowledge, the oversized XXL volumes of the art book publisher offer an aesthetic and content-related framework for a broad spectrum of culturally and intellectually outstanding topics and personalities.

In this spirit, the monograph now published by the architect, engineer and artist Santiago Calatrava, who was born in Spain in 1951 and lives in Switzerland, is dedicated to an impressive range of human creativity that breaks through genre boundaries, spans a network of old knowledge in new designs and bundles the power of personal expression.

Although he is primarily known as an architect, a closer look at his spectacular buildings reveals a deep, inherent creative streak.
Calatrava is a sculptor, painter, furniture designer and stage designer––to name just a few of his fields of activity. The book encompasses all areas of his work and is a testament to an inimitable talent for realizing the connection between space and form on the most diverse scales, and above all demonstrates Calatrava’s ability, which is always an indispensable prerequisite for his work––the loosely taut red thread that connects the first page with the last.

His architectural concepts thrive on overwhelming (spatial) impact and emotional depth. One example of this is the spectacular subway station at the World Trade Center, the »World Trade Center Transportation Hub«. The dramatic futuristic aesthetics of the building with its striking roof, whose radial ribs are reminiscent of the wing bones of a soaring bird, Calatrava has not only created a roof for a functional transportation hub, but also a monumental sculptural composition. The innovative, symbolic potential of the architecture embodies a new era of reconstruction and symbolizes the transition from destruction to a new beginning at Ground Zero.

However, Calatrava’s architecture does not only thrive on monumental grandeur. His buildings are the product of superior technological sophistication, complemented by a human-artistic sensitivity for materials, and push the possibilities of modern materials and their use to the limits of technical possibilities.

Whether the »Museum of Tomorrow« in Rio de Janeiro (2015) or his most recent project, the »Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates« for the Expo 2020 in Dubai, the »St.Nicholas Greek Church« at Ground Zero (2022) in New York or the sculpture »Constellation« in River Point Park (2017) in Chicago––Calatrava’s unmistakable signature is always characterized by aerodynamic elegance of originally organic forms as well as his sensitive feel for the interplay of aesthetics and structure.

Aesthetics and structure are also the keywords in relation to the comprehensive exhibition »Calatrava. Complete Works 1979–Today«––a meticulously compiled collection that explores the universal artist’s unique creative vision through detailed entries, photographs and watercolor sketches. Also available as a limited Art Edition of 300 copies with two signed lithographs by Santiago Calatrava and a custom-made box. [DM]