White Elephant
Ah, the boom years. The years in which everything was being paved over with concrete. The years in which buildings appeared like magic mushrooms. The years in which land no one had previously wanted was sold for millions. The years fortunes were made. The years for which we are still paying.
In 1999, then-regional president Manuel Fraga got jealous of Bilbao's new Guggenheim Museum by Frank Gehry and Valencia's Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) by Santiago Calatrava. They were flashy new buildings that brought attention and visitors. Fraga (who had been Minister of Tourism under Franco and then recycled himself after the Transition to be democratically elected president of his native Galicia) wanted to leave behind such a legacy that he would be remembered forever. No, we won't be forgetting him any time soon. Or the treasury he emptied to ensure his remembrance.
He thought up a scheme to be built on Monte Gaiás, just outside and overlooking Santiago. He wanted a little city there to house the culture of Galicia. There would be buildings for music, theater, library, museum, archives, and art. Along with an administration building. It would be called Cidade da Cultura, City of Culture. There was a search for the best design from among the most famous (not necessarily esthetically best) architects in the world. Peter Eisenman's design was chosen because it was said to be in harmony with the hill it would be built on. The panel of jurors all voted in favor of his design, except one, who complained it would get out of hand because the concept was too big. Boy, was he right. From the originally planned 60,000 square meters, the land finally occupied reached 148,000 square meters. Of course, that land was in private hands. It had to be expropriated and the proprietors paid. That wasn't the only thing that grew exponentially. The original budget was planned for just €108.2 million. A mere drop in the bucket for something that would bring untold wealth in millions of visitors a year. The drop became the entire bucket as the final bill (only construction, maintenance is another headache) reached almost €400 million. We shouldn't forget the architect's bill, either, over €9.6 million. And, of course, time. From 36 months, time rolled on to become more than ten years. It's still not finished, either, but the present regional government decided the two buildings left to build should remain on the drawing board.
It was opened in January, 2011. Since then there have been art and other exhibitions. There is a library with only a few thousand volumes since there's no money to stock it with the million or so that can fit in it. I think there's a bus line that goes there, but I've never been. I have heard, however, that the place is half empty. Even the cafeteria must be running at a loss. It's a ghost town of culture that few are interested in, a monument to the years of kickbacks and megalomaniac constructions.
In 1999, then-regional president Manuel Fraga got jealous of Bilbao's new Guggenheim Museum by Frank Gehry and Valencia's Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) by Santiago Calatrava. They were flashy new buildings that brought attention and visitors. Fraga (who had been Minister of Tourism under Franco and then recycled himself after the Transition to be democratically elected president of his native Galicia) wanted to leave behind such a legacy that he would be remembered forever. No, we won't be forgetting him any time soon. Or the treasury he emptied to ensure his remembrance.
He thought up a scheme to be built on Monte Gaiás, just outside and overlooking Santiago. He wanted a little city there to house the culture of Galicia. There would be buildings for music, theater, library, museum, archives, and art. Along with an administration building. It would be called Cidade da Cultura, City of Culture. There was a search for the best design from among the most famous (not necessarily esthetically best) architects in the world. Peter Eisenman's design was chosen because it was said to be in harmony with the hill it would be built on. The panel of jurors all voted in favor of his design, except one, who complained it would get out of hand because the concept was too big. Boy, was he right. From the originally planned 60,000 square meters, the land finally occupied reached 148,000 square meters. Of course, that land was in private hands. It had to be expropriated and the proprietors paid. That wasn't the only thing that grew exponentially. The original budget was planned for just €108.2 million. A mere drop in the bucket for something that would bring untold wealth in millions of visitors a year. The drop became the entire bucket as the final bill (only construction, maintenance is another headache) reached almost €400 million. We shouldn't forget the architect's bill, either, over €9.6 million. And, of course, time. From 36 months, time rolled on to become more than ten years. It's still not finished, either, but the present regional government decided the two buildings left to build should remain on the drawing board.
It was opened in January, 2011. Since then there have been art and other exhibitions. There is a library with only a few thousand volumes since there's no money to stock it with the million or so that can fit in it. I think there's a bus line that goes there, but I've never been. I have heard, however, that the place is half empty. Even the cafeteria must be running at a loss. It's a ghost town of culture that few are interested in, a monument to the years of kickbacks and megalomaniac constructions.
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