Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Fully integrated to enhance and use the synergetic possibilities of the different functions, an arch of 228 apartments will create a large hall which houses 100 market stalls, shops and restaurants, 1,200 parking spaces and an underground super market.

The apartments will all have a balcony on the outside and a window to the inside of the market. Insulation will prevent any unwanted effects.

The 40 meter tall and wide opening of the front and back will be covered with a flexible suspended glass facade, allowing for maximum transparency and a minimum of structure. The interior of the arch will display market produce.

from :www.arcspace.com

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The Architect's Studio

Visitors navigate working materials, original sketchbooks, and works in-progress to experience the span of Calatrava's career. Videos create the sense of moving in and through his built works and across bridges.

The Architect's Studio also explores Calatrava's dynamic process in the milieu of the architect's studio, including the way its floor is strewn with sketches of figures in motion and charging bulls.

The exhibition is organized for the Henry Art Gallery by independent curator Kirsten Kiser (Editor-in-Chief of arcspace) with Curatorial Coordinator, Jordan Howland.

The Santiago Calatrava: The Architect's Studio exhibition catalog is presented as a sketchbook, of more than 50 color sketches, with an enclosed CD-Rom that documents 30 projects, including sculptures and furniture, with color photos, complete texts, and five QuickTime videos.

The many projects presented range from Calatrava's early 1980s buildings, the Stadelhofen Station in Zürich, Ernstings Warehouse in Coesfeld-Lette and the Lyon - Satolas TGV Station in Lyon, to the latest projects, the Milwaukee Art Museum, Tenerife Concert Hall, the Athens 2004 Olympic Sports Complex, City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, the new Path Terminal at the World Trade Center in New York, "Turning Torso" in Malmø, the tallest apartment building in Europe, and several extraordinary bridges including the latest design for the Light Rail Train Bridge in Jerusalem.

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Dalian International Conference Center

January 04. 2016 .Dalian China

A multi-functional "small city within a city" with conference and event rooms for 7,000 visitors. A landmark for the prospering harbor city of Dalian.

The World Economic Forum, the main user, mainly known for its annual meetings in  Davos,

Switzerland annually organizes a "summer  Davos" at this new site in China. The requirements for this function determined the spatial concept, the size and number of conference rooms and offices.

To make the building's architectural concept and function visible from the outside, the conference halls penetrate the facade. They stand out against the metallic outer skin and deform it. 

The perforated aluminum slats of the exterior shell provide a sufficient amount of daylight and give the building its striking sculptural shape. The slats are opened in some of the public areas, offering

selective views of the city and the bay of Dalian. 

The two major urban axes converging give rise to the building's position and basic shape. The Conference Hall and Opera House are located in the center of the building beneath the shell-shaped, partially translucent roof.   

Small conference rooms surround this core like pearls, forming an internal urban structure with squares and streets that invite visitors to linger and chat - informal meeting spaces that are so important for conferences. The controlled supply of daylight assists the visitors in their spatial orientation and creates a atmospheric variety on the inside. 

Since the opera and conference center lie directly behind one another, the main stage can be used for the classic theater auditorium just as well as for the flexible multi-purpose hall. The opera house is based on a multifunctional design and can be used for  events  such  as conferences, music and theater all the way to classic opera with very little effort. 

Despite its enormous size for 7,000 people, the building is as vibrant as a city. The entry hall has the

size of four football fields and reaches up to 45 meters high.

The building consists of two elements, the table and the roof. The opera, conference halls and access zones rest on the table-shaped steel construction, with a three-dimensional deformed facade-roof construction above it. Both elements are steel space frames with depths ranging between five and eight meters.  The whole structure is supported by fourteen vertical cores made of composite steel and concrete. The steel constructions were produced at Chinese shipyards, since these were the only facilities where the 10-cm steel plates could be welded safely and precisely. Modern technology and construction expertise allowed for span widths of more than 85 meters and projections of more than 40 meters.

Dalian's  location on the sea, along with the strong wind were essential environmental natural resources to minimize energy consumption.

The relative thermal energy of the  sea water and the natural ventilation of the enormous air volumes

in the building are used for the cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. The atrium beneath the roof is conceived as a solar-heated, naturally ventilated sub climatic area. A high degree of natural daylight reduces the energy consumption for artificial lighting and has a positive psychological effect. Integrated into the shape of the building, solar panels provide additional energy.

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