Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencas
When I was in Valencia three years ago, I walked around the grounds of Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencas, or City of Arts and Sciences, but I didn't have time to go in (and the ticket prices looked really steep). Now that I'm living here for a few months, I knew that I would have to check it out more thoroughly.
It's a complex of buildings designed by local son Santiago Calatrava, and has become kind of a signature for the city. There's Oceanografica (an aquarium), a science museum, Hemisferic (IMAX cinema), the Agora (a multifunction space), the Umbracle (an outdoor exhibition space), and Palau de les Arts, the building below which is a performing arts center. While every building is iconic, though often bearing strong stylistic similarities with other Calatrava architecture, and I really wanted to like the complex, overall I had mixed feelings. The Palau de les Arts for example, has a forbidding appearance, almost dystopian because of how massive and heavy it appears.
The science museum is the most beautiful of the buildings in my opinion, but the exhibits inside bore no relationship with the architecture. It's as if a shell was created, and posters and displays were plopped in.
The exhibits really could travel to any space and work equally well (or poorly). I can't wait to see the new Exploratorium at Pier 15. Their exhibit design has always been superb, and now they've got a space which they could design with their educational mission in mind, making both work even more strongly together.
The Agora is kind of sinister looking, because of its steep sides and lack of openings. I've heard heating the space is a challenge.
My favorite part of the day was spent at the dolphin show at Oceanografica. Oceanografica is the least "design-y" of the complex components, and the interplay between outdoor and underground/underwater space was nice. I always feel a bit sad when I see animals at the zoo - the beluga whales in particular really looked like they wanted to escape - but the dolphin show was pretty cool to see. I've never seen one before, and it really impressed me just how intelligent and athletic dolphins really are. I set aside my misgivings about training animals in captivity to entertain humans, and just enjoyed the show.
Overall, a visit to Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencas is pretty pricey. I paid €25.25 with a student discount, which gave me admission to the science museum and Oceanografica. You could also buy a combo ticket including Hemisferic, but I knew I probably wouldn't be interested in IMAX movies in Spanish. This is pretty pricey in my opinion, and the science museum was rather lackluster. If you don't feel any obligation to check out the interiors of the buildings, I would venture to say that a leisurely walk around the grounds is quite enough to experience this architectural landmark.
