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Valencia is a city that ideally combines the vestiges of the past, which go back to the year 138 BC, with the impressive construction of the present. The most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia is the City of Arts and Sciences (Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias).

The very impressive City of Arts and Sciences is a cultural and architectural complex designed by Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela which has become an international landmark.

View 360 degree panoramic photo of the City of Arts and Sciences

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia Spain 21 - City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain

Spread out over two kilometers along the bed of the former River Turia, the complex, with its striking architecture, has an endless capacity for entertaining and stimulating the minds of its visitors.

The Mediterranean blue and white, the traditional colors of sea and light, blends with the avant-garde architecture of Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela. Their bold strokes provide a futuristic image that symbolizes the new Valencia as a modern city within the age old city.

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia Spain 15 1024x682 - City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain

The futuristic City of Arts and Sciences contains a number of buildings that allow visitors to immerse themselves in different aspects of art, nature, science and technology.

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia Spain 18 e1346415101882 1024x705 - City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain

Highlights include: the Hemisferic (an Imax theater, planetarium and laserium built in the shape of an eye), the Umbracle (a landscaped walkway which includes plant species indigenous to Valencia and an outdoor art gallery with sculptures from contemporary artists including Yoko Ono and others), the Principe Felipe Science Museum (an interactive museum of science which resembles the skeleton of a whale), the Oceanografico (an open air oceanographic park which is the largest aquarium in Europe with over 500 marine species) and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia (an opera house and performing arts center).

Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia Spain - City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain

View 360 degree panoramic photo of the City of Arts and Sciences

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This Tower might be a distant echo of old Catalan obsessions, carried on the winds that blow in from Montserrat. Inspired by the architectural legacy left behind by Gaudí and by the hills of Montserrat, the Agbar Tower rises from the ground with the power and lightness of a geyser, touching the blue skies of Barcelona.

foto16 - The Agbar Tower in Barcelona

Two non-concentric oval cylinders crowned by a glass and steel dome. The inner cylinder holds the vertical traffic nucleus and the installations.

foto7 - The Agbar Tower in Barcelona

Between this central axis and the exterior there are 31 spacious floors without internal columns.

foto1 - The Agbar Tower in Barcelona

Its first skin, covering the concrete wall, is a layer of polished aluminium in earthy tones and blues, greens and greys, decomposing as they gain in height. The second skin is made up of 59.619 sheets of clear and translucent glass.

foto11 - The Agbar Tower in Barcelona

Source: torreagbar.com

The Basílica La Sagrada Familia, is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Although incomplete, the church is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 was consecrated and proclaimed a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.

Though construction of Sagrada Família had begun in 1882 , Gaudí became involved in 1883, taking over the project and transforming it with his architectural and engineering style—combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms.

Sagrada Familia Barcelona - The Basilica La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona ...continue reading "The Basilica La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona"

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The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao5 - Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

It is built alongside the Nervion River , which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The Guggenheim is one of several museums belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation . The museum features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish and international artists.

One of the most admired works of contemporary architecture , the building has been hailed as a "signal moment in the architectural culture", because it represents "one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something." The museum was the building most frequently named as one of the most important works completed since 1980 in the 2010 World Architecture Survey among architecture experts.

Eleven thousand square meters of exhibition space are distributed over nineteen galleries, ten of which follow a classic orthogonal plan that can be identified from the exterior by their stone finishes. The remaining nine galleries are irregularly shaped and can be identified from the outside by their swirling organic forms and titanium cladding. The largest gallery, measures 30 meters wide and 130 meters long.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao8 - Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao9 - Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao10 - Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

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A series of rectilinear elements, clad in sandstone, combined with sweeping panels of gold and pink titanium, and mirror finish stainless steel.

The winery of Vinos Herederos del Marques de Riscal is located in Elciego, in the Rioja region of Spain, and is one of the oldest wineries in the region.

MarquedeRiscal2 1024x576 - The winery of Vinos Herederos del Marques de Riscal

Traditionally the wineries in the region are not open to the public, but as a component of an overall plan to redefine and invigorate its public image, Marques de Riscal commissioned the design of a small building intended to provide a unique experience for visitors to the winery.

The site for the building is approached along a road that leads through the vineyards and through existing wine production facilities that date primarily from the mid-nineteenth century.

The building is lifted above the site on columns, creating a small entry plaza beneath the building itself and providing breathtaking views of the vineyards, the San Andres Church, and the surrounding town and region from each of the areas located in the upper levels of the building.

The entry plaza leads to the reception area and to a bar, which are set along the edge of a small area of the vineyards. An outdoor terrace leads to a small pool, and a covered walkway extending from the building allows visitors the opportunity to overlook the vineyards and the surrounding region.

Distributed throughout the three upper levels of the building are fourteen guest bedrooms, a wine tasting room, a 172-seat restaurant including a public dining room, a private dining room and outdoor dining terraces, and conference facilities.

Offices and meeting rooms for administrative staff are located adjacent to the building and are linked both to the building and to existing winery offices and production facilities.

MarquedeRiscal4 1024x576 - The winery of Vinos Herederos del Marques de Riscal

MarquedeRiscal5 1024x576 - The winery of Vinos Herederos del Marques de Riscal

MarquedeRiscal8 1024x576 - The winery of Vinos Herederos del Marques de Riscal

Marques de Riscal1 - The winery of Vinos Herederos del Marques de Riscal

Source: arcspace.com