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THE CITY OF CULTURE

On a small hill overlooking Santiago de Compostela, the site of a famous medieval pilgimage destination, a complex of buildings is taking shape using the lastest 21st technology. Due to open in 2012, The City of Culture will have taken ten years to build, at a cost of half a billion dollars. Renowned architect Peter EIsenman designed each buidling to blend the area's medieval roots with the futurist constructions taking shape. He did this by mapping the five main pilgrimage roads that lead to the old cathedral, moved this series of grid lines to the top of the mountain and merged their layout with the topography of the hilltop. By employing the same local stone and masonry techniques used in medieval times, Eisenman has embedded the genetic code of the old city within his modern design.

THE FACTS

Location: Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Architect: Peter Eisenman
Tenants: Museum of Galician History and the New Technologies center, the Music Theater and Central Services building; and the Galician Library and Periodicals Archive
Status: under construction
Groundbreaking: 2000
Estimated Completion: 2010-2011
Size: one million square feet

Museum of Galician History: 172,000 square feet
New Technologies Center: 135,000 square feet
Music Theater: 220,000 square feet
Galician Library:122,000 square feet
Periodicals Archive: 86,000 square feet
Central Services building: 50,000 square feet