Santiago Calatrava’s Alamillo Bridge and the Idea of the Structural Engineer as Artist

Abstract

The structures of Santiago Calatrava are noted for their adventurous forms, and Calatrava is heralded as a hybrid architect/engineer whose works represent an integration of both disciplines. While there have been a number of publications on the structures of Calatrava, nearly all have focused on the architecture or artistry of them without addressing how well they fulfill the requirements or represent great works of structural engineering. Here a thorough structural analysis of one of Calatrava’s most well known bridges is performed to determine how well it achieves the goals of structural engineering. This provides insight as to how well Calatrava’s works represent engineering as art and what we can learn from his works in the context of great works of structural art.