NYT: Critique of Calatrava

adma said:

Interesting to consider that Toronto's experience at BCE (and, I suppose, Mimico Creek) has been, from all appearances, relatively hassle-free...

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Roy Brander,Calgary
In Calgary, we put in a postcard-pretty Calatrava bridge. (Literally: a later look at the files found the bridge location was fifth of five proposed as far as usefulness went, but first of five in postcard value.) Costs soared and it became a big controversy. A big part of the added cost was that the welds on the steel were bad when the pieces arrived from Spain - where Calatrava insisted they be done, by companies he has an interest in - and they had to be re-done in Canada.

I suspect he's sold his last sculpture - a better term for his work than structure - in this part of the world.

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AlvinofDiaspar said:

I think Calatrava is the type of architect that requires a special kind of client - government hiring him for the job should know full well what they are getting themselves into.

AoD

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ShonTron said:

Interesting that Frank Lloyd Wright had very, very few government or public institutional commissions - Marin County Civic Center is the only one that immediately comes to mind, though I am sure there are a few. FLW's commissions were either private homes (the majority of his work), progressive corporations (such as Larkin, SC Johnson) or religious organizations. FLW certainly needed that special kind of client as well.

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