Santiago Calatrava's City of Arts and Sciences has taken a starring role in Tomorrowland, Disney's latest blockbuster. Located in the former riverbed of the Turia in Valencia, Spain, the City of Arts and Sciences comprises a cinema (L'Hemisfèric), a landscaped walk and sculpture garden (L'Umbracle), the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum, the largest aquarium in Europe (L'Oceanográfico), and the renowned Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia. The complex was constructed in stages commencing in July 1996, and opened to the public in October 2005. Unique and strikingly futuristic, the iconic group of buildings caught the eye of Tomorrowland producer Jeffrey Chernov, who spoke effusively of the building at a recent press conference for the film.
"Calatrava's architecture is just phenomenal and inventive and exciting. It's very skeletal, like you're looking at the vertebrae of a dinosaur or prehistoric fish," said Chernov. "You walk into that place and you never want to leave. That's the vibe we wanted for Tomorrowland."
Tomorrowland star George Clooney also praised Calatrava's work and the wider profession, saying, "The architect's imagination represents that great optimistic version of life where you just go, 'I want to build that' and somebody builds it. It's pretty amazing."
The film follows its main characters to the eponymous "Tomorrowland", where they attempt to decode the mysteries of "an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space." The movie opens in US theatres on May 22, and will be released worldwide by June 6. Catch glimpses of Calatrava's City of Arts and Sciences in the movie trailer above.
