Knowing that there are hundreds of thousands of Calatrava admirers in the world, it feels a little strange for me to say that the more of his work I see, the less impressed I am. Individually, most of his structures are quite powerful, but I feel like I haven't seen a design portfolio this bereft of versatility since learning about Gaudi. Gaudi, however, started working a century ago and was far ahead of his time. I must ask, what's Calatrava's excuse? The fact that any of his famous works are instantly recognized as a "Calatrava" should be considered a weakness. After the Reina Sophia and the Madrid airport, it's clear he isn't the only person who can pull off these sorts of alien, organic structures. And as for the "all-white" structures, I'm sure that he espouses some sort of purity of form as his reasoning, but to me it just reeks of pretentiousness. There are plenty of celebrity architects who use their influence to push the envelope of architecture, I wish Calatrava would join them from time to time.
After arriving at the Torre Agbar, I noticed that photographing it was not as easy as one would think. I was frustrated and thought that my camera was having trouble focusing, until we were told that the patterned effect on the tower is designed to create this sort of effect. Towards the bottom of the tower, the palette tends towards reds and oranges, while the top contains greys and very pale blues. The effect is very subtle, and is most easily seen if you view pictures from different times of day or conditions. The second picture was taken about an hour after the first, and as you can see, the effect is much more pronounced. The same effect occurs towards the sides because of light hitting the louvers. It just goes to show the level of depth that the louvered skin gives to the design of the Torre Agbar. It has the differentiated color effect, the vanishing effect, and saves energy to boot.
this graphic conveys the feelings i felt while walking through the mezquita of cordoba. i felt lost in the variation of patterns. i was lost in the collision of christian vs. islamic ornament. the collaging of sketches in the foreground shows this collision. it is not always easy to decipher these various details. sometimes the styles blend, and sometimes they clash. the yellow and black stripes in the background are an attempt to deconstruct the canonical value of columns by drawing only their profiles parallel to each other. the columns, while sharing some common features, were all unique. their combined profiles produced a series of odd, unfamiliar volumes, thus removing the symbolism of the column.
of arch ways, series of columns, and mainly through patterns on the walls. These patterns and tile designs are seen throughout the entire Alhambra. You can also notice that the majority of colorings on these patterns has remained intact, if located at the top of the wall or on the ceiling. With the location this high, this enables people to touch the actual patterns. Most of the patterning is meant to symbolize something in the past. The different patterns and small attention to detail kept my attention while I journeyed through the Alhambra. 
Here we see the red hulking behemoth hovering over the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. I tried to capture the power of the steel canopy as best I could--along with the nifty reflections the shiny surface produces. Overall I feel that Jean Nouvel has crossed the line with this structure, but if no one crossed the line, how would we ever know where the line was.
