Calatrava: pushing architecture to the limit

For over 30 years, Santiago Calatrava has been designing buildings in his office in Zurich which are writing architectural history. The Spanish-Swiss architect is now planning the world’s tallest building: an observation tower in Dubai – and is pushing the limits of what is technically possible. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)

The Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava lives between New York and Zurich. He’s known for his futuristic structures and forms that are often inspired by living organisms. His design of Zurich’s Stadelhofen railway station was the starting point of his international career. He designed railway stations all over the world, such as the World Trade Center station in New York.

One of his latest projects is a new tower in Dubai, planned to exceed Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, currently the highest building in the world. Construction work has already started and it’s planned to complete the tower before the Dubai World Expo in 2020. 

Now in his mid-sixties, the star architect also devotes three hours a day to his passion of painting.

In the series ‘Swiss Pioneers’, Swiss Public Television, SRF, meets Swiss nationals at home and abroad who have made a name for themselves in their area of expertise.