In October 2005 the Valencia Opera House was officially opened by Queen Sofia of Spain. It is named for the Queen as 'el Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía'. The opera house was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava who was actually born in Valencia.For Calatrava, the completion of the opera house is the culmination of 14 years' work. The architect commented "Because of the time spent, its size and because it involves music, this project is the most intense and the one I've devoted most time on, so far. It represents a correlation between spectator, musician and artist".
The actual building is a masterpiece of modern architecture and descriptions of it have varied from 'a blend of seagoing vessel and spacecraft' to 'some sort of prehistoric trilobite' or a 'giant warrior's helmet'.
Whatever the perception of the building there is no doubt it will become a symbol of the city of Valencia just as the Sydney opera house in Australia has.
In the past Valencia – Spain's third-largest city – has lagged behind Madrid and Barcelona for art and architecture, but the new Palace of Arts will certainly give the Guggenheim in Bilbao a run for its money. The building cost an estimated €120m to construct.
[Source & More: designbuild-network]
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