City of Arts and Sciences
Built in the dried up river bed of the Turia, the City of the Arts and Sciences is an architectural ensemble comprising a science museum (El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe), planetarium (L'Hemisfèric), opera house (El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía), promenade (L'Umbracle) and a parking structure. Built between 1998 and 2003, the buildings are surrounded by shallow pools. Two streamlined bridges, also designed by Calatrava, cross the promenade between the opera house and the planetarium. Other than the water, Calatrava also used white concrete and shattered tiles to tie the various buildings together into a whole.
Closest to the city centre, the 75m high opera house acts as an urban landmark. Its most striking features are the shell that wraps the building?s volumes as well as an enormous cantilevered plume.
The planetarium occupies the centre of the complex. Like a colossal eye, its glass facades open to reveal the spherical theatre.
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