Architecture land in Valencia.

Where did we go for 3 days of Easter Break? No other than more architecture in Valencia of course. Absorbing in Santiago Calatrava overdose, the ciudad de artes + ciencas (city of arts and sciences) proved again the strong influences of architecture on society and its strength as scale within the urban fabric. A city, almost literally, Calatrava built his architecture wonderland on a large portion of Valencia, located very openly to the void of the city. In this way, his buildings such as the Opera House, the bridge, and the science museum is brought out in a very monumental scale becoming one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks.

Aside from Calatrava’s usual “dynamic” trademark, I felt that the scale of his buildings was brought out most importantly by his use of public and water spaces. Clear and blue, water surrounds the opera house and the arts and sciences center, creating somewhat an edge for this “inner city of the city.” Adding on, spatially they provide for the illusion of “atmosphere’s” scale. Futuristic in every sense, his buildings portrayed a very unique environment, almost unreal.

Putting architecture land aside, the old city as well as the extension sectors of Valencia were nicely proportionate. Unlike Barcelona, the streets were smaller in width… bringing on nice proportions of sidewalk vs. street. Planted with plenty of palm trees and other vegetation, “green” and water becomes a theme for the city. In this way, I found the city to be very friendly and family – oriented with its residential like characteristic. I also found that Valencia is dominated by its external stretch of parks (larger scale) and its internal stretch of shopping spaces (smaller scale). All in all, Valencia was nicely done