Santiago Calatrava’s Travels

by Christoph Schaub
First Run/Icarus Films, Brooklyn, NY, U.S.A., 1999
DVD, 77 mins., col.
DVD Sales: $398; video rental: $125

Distributor’s website: http://www.frif.com.

Reviewed by Rob Harle (Australia)

recluse@lis.net.au

This is a splendid film by Christoph Schaub. It portrays many facets of Santiago Calatrava the man, in addition to his fascinating architectural and engineering creations.

Calatrava was born in Valencia, Spain in 1951 and established an international reputation for himself early in his career. He is what is sometimes known as a "celebrity architect". Like his predecessors Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd-Wright, and Antonio Gaudi—controversial, dedicated, obsessive, and genius are labels that surround him. In the film he comes across as a gentle, sensitive man, yet when on building sites and in his office and under pressure, he is forceful, adamant and intractable. His creations are very much his creations even though he works with a team of collaborators. This is not to imply that he is an egomaniac erecting monuments to himself, far from it. He states that the public owns his structures and that they must serve them and fulfil their design function for the public.

Calatrava specializes in public buildings with a strong sculptural accent, especially transportation hubs such as train stations and airports; these structures allow his love of monumental scale and expertise as a construction engineer ample room for creative expression. Steel is a major construction material in Calatrava’s work, and he uses it with ingenuity and grace. One of the buildings Calatrava is working on in the film from the design stage through to supervision of fabrication consists of steel elements based on the form of palm leaves; these elements are repeated throughout the design. Repetition of a main structural element is another of Calatrava’s trademarks.

The film leans towards a minimalist style, which suits the subject especially well. There are many breathtaking shots of the buildings set against gloriously coloured sunsets and natural backdrops; the photography enhances the dynamic yet graceful form of Calatrava’s structures. Much to my delight the sound track, again minimalist, turned out to be composed by John Cage.

Whilst there is ample footage of the buildings and structures themselves, the film also shows Calatrava at work in his studio at home. He prefers to work uninterrupted, often starting at four in the morning and working through until late evening. His main design tool is the sketchpad with charcoal/pencil for line work and watercolour wash for highlights. Whilst he is working, he talks candidly about the design process, his problems with contractors and sponsors (clients), and his main sources of inspiration. All his work is designed at a fundamental level on human scale and inspired by natural forms, including plants, trees, wings, and also the human eye and hand.

I think his "Planetarium" building in Valencia is simply a masterpiece. This structure is based on the human or animal eye and consists of an inner section in the shape of a dome with a graceful canopy, something like an eyelid, draped over it. I would have liked to see a little more detail of this marvellous building, which brings to mind one of my two criticisms of the film, and that is that it is a little too short at 77 minutes. The other minor gripe is the subtitles for English speaking people, surely voice-over for different languages, would not be that hard, and this addition would allow full enjoyment and concentration on the images.

The film portrays a subtle juxtaposition of the quiet, almost spiritual qualities of Calatrava working in the studio with his frenetic pace of flying from one country to another to attend meetings, solve on site problems, and meet new sponsors to explain his design concepts. The latter point is an absolutely essential, though often tedious and frustrating aspect of an architect’s existence.

A wonderful informative film, with excellent photography and music, I thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in art, design, and architecture. I would further add, essential viewing for all architectural and building construction students.