'Bridge of Strings' not only controversial Calatrava project

Venice residents protested negative impact Spanish architect's modern steel bridge would have on their classically designed city.

By NATHAN COHEN
Calatrava bridge 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
Calatrava bridge 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
Jerusalemites are apparently not the only ones who are unhappy with the work of world-renowned Santiago Calatrava, architect of the "Bridge of Strings." When Calatrava was commissioned to design a new bridge over the Grand Canal in Venice, the Associated Press reported last year that residents protested the negative impact his modern steel bridge would have on their classically designed city. "It's completely useless," Amedeo Bonini, 62, told The New York Times of the $13.6 million bridge. Despite complaints and protests, the bridge was eventually built. Many of Calatrava's other projects, though, receive praise. Among them is the Chicago Spire, a residential building that when complete will be the tallest skyscraper in the US. To be completed in 2009, the building's owners have already sold 30 percent of the building's space, according to Business Wire. Calatrava also designed a transit center, currently under construction on the World Trade Center site. The project is $500 million over its original $2.5 billion budget, and there are conflicting dates about when it will be ready, according to AP. Another of Calatrava's projects is an 18-story building with movable "wings," set to house the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Atlanta civic officials as well as Calatrava himself say they want the new tower to be the city's symbol, much like Sydney's Opera House or the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.