Valencia’s most acclaimed architect and the brains behind the city’s futuristic Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias has scooped up a long-overdue and much-deserved award for his exceptional work.

Santiago Calatrava Valls (main photo), who was born in Valencia in 1951 and studied at the city’s Polytechnic University, has been called ‘one of the most significative architects of his generation’.

Hailed as a genius by the Valencians, Calatrava’s star-studded career began in 1983 when he designed the railway station in Stadelhofen, near Zurich, where he had set up his first studio. In fact, it was in Zurich where Calatrava studied for his doctorate in civil engineering.

The following year, the talented designer gave shape to the 9 d’Octubre bridge in his city of birth, although his later work became more widespread – starting with the stunning Bach de Roda bridge in Barcelona, the futuristic Peatonal Campo Volantín bridge in Zubizuri, near Bilbao and the Manrique bridge in Murcia. Calatrava’s reputation became international in the late 1980s with the Pont d’Europe in Brussels and the La Mujer bridge in Buenos Aires (second photo).

His work abroad was not limited to bridges – aside from the Stadelhofen station, Calatrava was the architect behind the airport railway station in Lyon after opening a second studio in Paris.

Yet it is the Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias for which Calatrava is best known. Often compared to the famous Sydney Opera House, the post-modern avant-garde complex has become to Valencia what the Tour Eiffel is to Paris and the Colosseo is to Rome.

Arguably Calatrava’s most ambitious project, comprising the Hemisfèric, Oceanogràfic (third photo), Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (fourth photo) and the Museo de las Ciencias Príncipe Felipe, the intricate, eye-catching design brings in visitors from far and wide. Even before entering the museums, they spend time admiring the adventurous, imaginative buildings, in awe of the talent behind these extraordinary architectural phenomena.

Prior to netting his recent prize, the National Architectural Award (Premio Nacional de Arquitectura), Calatrava has swept the board in a number of other prize-giving ceremonies both in Spain and beyond. In 1999, the exceptional celebrity architect walked away with the Príncipe de Asturias Arts prize and was named a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in San Fernando.

The man who probably holds the record for the greatest number of degree certificates adorning the walls of his home, Calatrava has been presented with honorary doctorates in no less than twelve universities, including those of Sevilla and Edinburgh, and Valencia Polytechnic.

Despite his plethora of prizes, and the international fame that the Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias has won him, Calatrava has no intention of resting on his laurels. A workaholic with a genuine love of his job, the designer has his fingers in numerous architectural pies around the globe. The new building for the World Trade Center in New York, razed to the

ground on September 11, 2001, is one of the major projects currently in Calatrava’s in-tray and expected to be complete within the next two years.

Next, and still in the USA, Santiago Calatrava is designing what will be the country’s tallest tower block, Fordham Spire (fifth photo). Measuring 610 metres, it will go up shortly on the edge of Lake Michigan near the Chicago highway.

Despite all this, Calatrava has never yet been awarded the National Architectural Prize, even though he has been changing the face of modern building design for more than twenty years. Another trophy to add to his collection, it seemed inevitable that one day this talented architect would have seen the award fall into his hands.

Those not familiar with Calatrava’s work should take a trip to the Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias in Valencia. Visitors from around the globe, when they see the imaginative and unusual design of the complex, are full of surprise at and admiration for the genius and attention to detail that has gone into its structure. Using geometric patterns, curves, spheres, spikes and plenty of glass and chrome, the various buildings that make up the centre have been described as looking like space-ships, huge boats, flowers with a surreal twist, greenhouses on stilts, giant eyes rising out of the water, the famous Spaghetti Junction with an aquarium in the middle, a set of teeth, a cubist take on the Giant’s Causeway - anything, in short, but the standard brick-and-mortar structure that usually houses museums and theme parks. There is even a small pyramid in the middle, which will serve as the base for the Fordham Spire – an imposing, magestic, twisting tower that will be seen from miles away.

Santiago Calatrava, via his amazing architectural creations, is a familiar figure in two continents, and is bound to continue netting prestigious awards and designing avant-garde buildings and monuments around the world for a long time to come.