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2005 Commencement Speaker: Santiago Calatrava

Santiago Calatrava

The Boston Globe says Santiago Calatrava is designing “the most spectacular buildings in the world at the moment.” This spring, the acclaimed architect, engineer, and artist gave the keynote address at Southern Methodist University’s 2005 Commencement ceremony.

See Calatrava's
May 14, 2005
Commencement Address

Calatrava is no stranger to SMU, having designed “Wave,” a perpetually moving sculpture on the plaza in front of the Meadows Museum. In 2000, he was awarded SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts prestigious Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the arts. The inaugural exhibit in the newly built Meadows Museum building was “Poetics of Movement – The Architecture of Santiago Calatrava.”

Globe correspondent, Robert Campbell, describes the Spanish-born architect’s works: “They’re white, they’re light, and they look like the elegant skeletons of birds or fish, bleached white by the sun. And very often they have moving parts.”

Perhaps best known for his unique bridges, Calatrava has designed two of three structures that will span Dallas’ Trinity River. When complete, it will be the only city in the world to have three Calatrava bridges.

Millions saw his work last summer – Calatrava created the master plan for the Athens Olympic Complex, including Olympic Stadium – and millions will use the $2 billion World Trade Center transportation hub when it is completed.

Calatrava is a native of Valencia, Spain. He earned his degree in architecture from the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura in Valencia and a Ph.D. in engineering from the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. In February 2005, he received the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects.

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A high-resolution photo of Calatrava is available for news media.