L’Hemisfèric, Valencia, Spain

L’Hemisfèric, the distinctive eye-shaped construction, was the first element to be opened to the public in the "City of Arts and Sciences", in April 1998.

The building’s unique architecture comes alive as the lids of the colossal “Eye of Knowledge” opens up to reveal the fascinating setting.

The globe of L’Hemisfèric (the Planetarium), which also houses the Omnimax theater, is roofed over by an elliptical shell structure and placed within an elliptical pod that cradles it like the pupil of an eye.

The concrete socket of the eye incorporates elongated aluminium awnings that differ in length and fold upwards collectively, or as individual units, to form a brise-soleil roof that opens along the curved central axis of the eye shape. The concrete encasement has been extended upwards, and the brise-soleil narrowed and replaced by a system of slats mounted on each side of pivoting, to imitate the structure of a feather.

Architect : Santiago Calatrava