Designed by the Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava, and just recently completed (with landscaping work ongoing), the Palau de les Artes is the fourth and final part of the spectacular La Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias complex that lies just southeast of the city center of Valencia. The world's second-largest opera house, after the Sydney Opera House, the Palau de les Artes contains four separate halls - the Main Hall, the Master Room, the Chamber Theatre, and the Amphitheatre.
It is hard to imagine the scale of this building without seeing it in person. It stands over 75 meters in height, and is covered with millions of tiny, irregularly-shaped tiles which give the building a glossy appearance in bright sunlight. In addition, the long, leaf-shaped sunshade that extends over the length of the entire structure at no point touches the building, and is only anchored to the ground at one point, thus giving it the appearance of defying gravity.
Clinton Riddle
