Architects and Designers

Santiago Calatrava

san-tee-AH-goh kal-ah-TRAH-vah

Structural Expressionist

Citation Formats

General Reference

Architecture and Design Atlas. "Santiago Calatrava." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://architecture.interactiveatlas.org/architects/santiago-calatrava.

APA Style

Architecture and Design Atlas. (n.d.). Santiago Calatrava. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://architecture.interactiveatlas.org/architects/santiago-calatrava

BibTeX

@misc{architectureanddesignatlas-santiago-calatrava,
  author = {Architecture and Design Atlas},
  title = {Santiago Calatrava},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://architecture.interactiveatlas.org/architects/santiago-calatrava},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

A Spanish architect and structural engineer, born 1951 in Valencia, whose double training lets him treat structure itself as the architectural form. His bridges, stations and museums favor skeletal, bone-like assemblies that often move or appear to move, among them the City of Arts and Sciences in his native Valencia and the Turning Torso residential tower in Malmo, Sweden.

Facts

Birth Year

1951 1

Nationality

Spanish 1

Defining Contribution

Trained as both architect and structural engineer, earning a civil engineering doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in 1981; known for skeletal, organic forms in bridges, stations, stadiums and museums, among them the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia and the Turning Torso in Malmo, the first twisting skyscraper of its kind. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections