Santiago Calatrava: Drawing, Building, Reflecting

Illustrated by the architect and in his own words, this memoir features drawings never seen outside Santiago Calatrava’s studio. 

Santiago Calatrava is an intimate insight into one of the world’s most celebrated architects. Calatrava first made a name for himself in the late 1980s, with delicately designed structures in Zürich that seem to grow out of the earth. He went on to create a series of highly innovative, iconic bridges across Europe and, in recent years, has drawn attention for such large-scale projects as the City of Arts and Sciences in his birth town of Valencia, Spain, and the World Transportation Hub at Ground Zero in New York.

Written in the first person and accompanied by a wealth of sketches never seen outside Calatrava’s studio, this book reveals the breadth of his influences, and how they have combined with his background in engineering and architecture to inspire his signature buildings. Moving beyond a documentation of Calatrava’s architectural output, this book offers a rare opportunity for readers to explore the creative process of one of the world’s great architects. In this heartfelt memoir of an architect of singular conviction, Calatrava’s inspirations, lessons, and achievements will touch every reader, whether aspiring architect or lover of art and nature. 

c. 300 illustrations

Cristina Carrillo de Albornoz is an art curator, critic, and author who has authored and coauthored a number of books on leading artists and architects, including Ai Weiwei.

Santiago Calatrava is an internationally celebrated Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor, and painter.