L'Hemisfèric: The Giant Eye of Knowledge
Why is it significant?
Approach the shimmering edge of the central reflecting pool and behold L'Hemisfèric, the poetic structure that inaugurated the City of Arts and Sciences in April 1998. Designed by Santiago Calatrava to represent the Eye of Wisdom, this oval building measures over one hundred meters in length.
Key Facts
| Place | L'Hemisfèric: The Giant Eye of Knowledge |
|---|---|
| Address | Avinguda del Professor López Piñero, 3, 46013 València, Spain |
| Geo Coordinates | 39.45650, -0.35350 |
| Part of Walk | Valencia City of Arts and Sciences: Santiago Calatrava's Futuristic Vision |
| Generated | Generated |
Approach the shimmering edge of the central reflecting pool and behold L'Hemisfèric, the poetic structure that inaugurated the City of Arts and Sciences in April 1998. Designed by Santiago Calatrava to represent the Eye of Wisdom, this oval building measures over one hundred meters in length. When viewed across the calm water of the pool, the submerged reflection of its curved concrete and glass shell creates the perfect illusion of a giant human eye gazing serenely toward the heavens.
What makes this building a triumph of kinetic architecture is that it can physically open and close like an eyelid. A series of motorized articulated aluminium brise-soleil shutters fold outward along hydraulic tracks, revealing the glowing inner sphere like a pupil peering out across the water. Inside this central pupil sits a state-of-the-art IMAX laser cinema and digital planetarium dome with a screen measuring nine hundred square meters, projecting dazzling journeys across the cosmos and the depths of the oceans.
The sunken perimeter ring that surrounds the building, known as the Carl Sagan Perimeter Ring, is paved in smooth teak wood and bathed in cooling breezes from the shallow water pools. Visitors often sit here with their legs dangling over the edge, watching children paddle transparent kayaks across the turquoise water while marveling at the reflections of Calatrava's white arches rippling in the breeze.
Look closely into the shallow waters of the surrounding pool: it is engineered to a precise depth of only thirty centimeters, carefully calibrated by hydraulic designers to maintain a flawless mirror reflection of the sky while drastically reducing the energy needed to filter and circulate millions of liters of water.
Stroll eastward along the sunlit water concourse to approach the towering, bleached skeletal ribcage of the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum.