Calatrava's other failed projects: from La Paloma Airport to the Zubizuri bridge in Bilbao - Bilbao, Vizcaya, País Vasco
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Ariberna
N 43° 15.981 W 002° 55.668
30T E 505859 N 4790395
Bilbao has been marked by two of the prestigious architect's projects. The airport currently has leaks and the bridge with a carpet that had to be put down due to the continuous slipping that occurred there.
Waymark Code: WM139DJ
Location: País Vasco, Spain
Date Posted: 10/18/2020
Views: 3
At 600 kilometers from Valencia, Calatrava is building an airport. They call it the Dove. It is the first image that the five million annual visitors see of Bilbao. The airport was inaugurated 20 years ago, but shortly after its start-up, the first flaws and criticisms stood out . They had to put white pivots so that the buses "did not crash against the design."
Also, when it rains there are leaks in the roof . And not only that: the airport arrivals area was uncovered, an issue that seems not to have been taken into account when dealing with a city like Bilbao, where the rains and cold are pressing with the arrival of autumn. But the airport has not been the only creation criticized by Calatrava in the Basque Country.
The Zubizuri bridge is another of the well-known works of the architect in the city of Bilbao with the aim of joining the two banks. The project is carried out by a real estate developer in exchange for the requalification of some land next to the river. Although the detail that all Bilbao residents remember is the glass floor. The slips made the bridge famous. From the consistory they take charge of the maintenance of this construction .
But what solution was put to the problem of the bridge? The architect and former mayor of Bilbao Ibon Areso has told the Research Team that they asked Calatrava himself to come up with a solution: "He didn't give it to us either , and in the end we took the definitive and safer path: a few eight years ago they tried to put a carpet".
According to Areso, the City Council has spent about 48,000 euros to replace the carpet due to wear and tear. The council has also been forced to pay "5,000 to 6,000 euros a year" to repair the numerous tiles on the bridge that have been broken "due to the stresses suffered by the bridge due to expansion or wind."
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