Born in 1951 in Benimamet (Valencia), Santiago Calatrava Valls is a graduate in Fine Arts and a doctor in Architecture and in Technical Sciences (Engineering). Besides his acclaimed work as an architect in several countries, he has also played an outstanding role in teaching, as professor at the Institute of Construction Statics in Zurich.

All his professional work has been carried out at his Architecture and Engineering studies in Paris and Zurich. Looked upon as a specialist in bridge design - although he has undertaken work of different natures - he is responsible for such well-known work as the Alamillo Bridge and the Kuwait Pavilion at Expo 92, both of which are in Seville, and the Montjuic Communications Tower in Barcelona, and was nominated for the reform work on the German Parliament's historic building (Reichstag). In 1993 the prestigious Museum of Modern Art in New York (MOMA) held an exhibition exclusively dedicated to his work, as indeed many other cities in other countries have also done. He recently inaugurated a spectacular cinema and planetarium in Valencia, "the Hemisphere" - the main building of the City of Arts and Sciences - and is also working on the "Estación de Oriente" (Eastern Station) in Lisbon, the new airport in Bilbao, and the station at Liège, which will be the high-speed travel hub for Central Europe, as well as on other projects.

He is a member of the Europa Akademie (Europe Academy), and of the Fazlur Rhaman Vihan International. He has received many awards, such as the Augusto Perret Award, from the International Union of Architects, the international "Vereinigungg fur Brückenhan und Hochabn" award from Switzerland, the Fritz Schumacher award from Germany, and the 1988 FAD award. Santiago Calatrava is also a member of the International Academy of Architecture and doctor honoris causa at the Universities of Seville, Valencia Polytechnic, Heriot-Watt (Scotland), Salford (England) and Delft (Germany).