With construction ongoing since 1996, the complex consists of five main areas, of which one (L’Oceanogràfic aquarium) was designed by a different architect.

The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia contains 4 performance halls for music, theatre and opera in a building that many would consider designed for inter-galactic travel.

Resembling an immense eye to represent visual arts, L’Hemisfèric houses an IMAX theatre, planetarium and Laserium.

Rising behind is the skeletal form of El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe, a hands-on science museum.

Bordering the decorative pools is L’Umbracle, a landscaped park and sculpture gallery under a network of white arches.

Calatrava’s contributions also include a bridge and central plaza, both of which are currently under construction. However, apartment buildings that were supposed to have been developed in the area have been put on hold for financial reasons.

The forms seen above are reflected in two important buildings on the Atlantic island of Tenerife. The Auditorio de Tenerife on the waterfront of Santa Cruz features a 1600-seat main hall with a pipe organ and a smaller chamber hall, all contained within one of the most amazingly-shaped buildings ever seen.

Also in Santa Cruz, the Tenerife International Centre for Trade Fairs and Congresses features 40,000 square metres of exhibition and meeting space. Thanks to this week’s Street View update, we can also now see it from ground-level.

Another waterfront building can be found by Lake Michigan in the form of the Milwaukee Art Museum which was the first of Calatrava’s projects to be completed in the US. The museum’s main feature is a movable sunshade which can retract in poor weather and at night; it also has a signature cable-stayed bridge.

As with his bridges, not all of Calatrava’s buildings have been popular. The visually stunning Gare do Oriente train station in Lisbon has been criticised for cutting off the city centre from the river, and for not protecting waiting passengers from the elements.

Thanks to the many people who suggested the CAC … paco, Eduardo R. de Lima, Stolz, Arrianus, Carlos Urena, javier, Simone, antonio waller, Sebas Font, Trompie, Michael Zacherl, Pablo, andysamp, Ximet, Andros and Martin.

Locations: Portugal, Spain, Wisconsin / Categories: Buildings, Street Views

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Mexico

In Mexico the cities of Monterrey, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and Cancun have all received coverage. So far we’ve spotted the world famous Teotihuacan pyramid, complete with people on top (previously covered in 2005):

The world’s largest bullring, which we viewed from above earlier this year.

And one of Mexico’s greatest exports, character piñatas.

Hawaii

Until now Hawaii was the only US state to not have Streetview coverage – but Google has now remedied that by bringing us imagery of main island of Hawaii. Here, covered in a blue tarpaulin, we can see the nose cone of the plane that was used in the opening episode of Lost – which was filmed around here somewhere…

Netherlands

The Netherlands already had excellent coverage, which allowed us to see all sorts of exciting nudity, prostitution, and other Not Safe For Work antics. The latest update goes on to cover Utrecht, Den Haag¹, Eindhoven, Den Bosch, Tilburg, Leeuwarden, Apeldoorn, Deventer and Amersfoort!

All of this means we can now see the brilliant Kubuswoning from ground-level (previously covered in 2006):

The windmills at the popular tourist destination, Kinderdijk, were captured by the Google Trike (turn round for loads more):

Spain

Finally Spain, which already had good coverage, has received an almost total blanket of blue streets. The updates extend right out to the Canary Islands, now covering Mallorca, Gran Canaria and Tenerife.

Here’s the Guggenheim Bilbao, complete with another massive spider (they pop up everywhere on Streetview it seems), which we covered back in 2005:

For continuing Spanish-language coverage of all the new Streetview imagery, you should follow Google Sightseeing Español on Twitter.

Have you found something interesting? Leave a comment below!

Locations: Hawaii, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain / Categories: Site News, Street Views

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One of Calatrava’s earliest bridge commissions helped cement his international reputation for civic engineering, the Bac de Roda bridge in Barcelona. Like the vast majority of his work, the structure is entirely white.

Part of the city’s pre-Olympic development, the bridge incorporates steel cables, a method used in many of Calatrava’s subsequent designs, including the Puente del Alamillo in Seville, which features a 142m tall mast.

Similar in design to the previously featured Sundial Bridge, the Puente del Alamillo was part of Seville’s preparations for Expo ‘92.

In Buenos Aires the 100m long Puente de la Mujer uses the same technique, but the mast is angled forward rather than backwards. In this case, the mast also supports a section of bridge that pivots through 90 degrees to allow boat traffic to pass, coming to rest at the stabilising pylon visible in the river to the south.

While Calvatara’s bridges are generally well received and establish themselves as symbols of the communities where they are built, there have been some exceptions. In Bilbao, the Zubizuri has met with opposition on several fronts.

The Zubizuri’s deck includes glass bricks which apparently break easily and become very slippery in the rain, additionally, the placement of the bridge on the river edge (rather than the elevated city street) made it somewhat impractical to actually use, so the city had to build a connecting walkway – the curved structure to the left of the bridge. Calatrava actually felt this was detrimental to his creation, and amazingly, won €30,000 through his legal action.

Furthermore, Calatrava’s Ponte della Costituzione in Venice – shown as under construction on Google Maps, but actually completed a year ago – has also met with controversy for being too expensive, inaccessible to anyone unable to traverse its many steps, and for being too close to one of the city’s classic bridges across the Grand Canal.

Named for one of Dublin’s most famous writers¹, the James Joyce bridge has had a better reception from locals, perhaps because the design mirrors many of the other arched bridges across the Liffey. However like the Zubizuri, the James Joyce has a glass block walkway² – though it’s possible that the frosted finish to the glass makes it safer to traverse in Irish weather!

Another of Calatrava’s bridges, named for another writer – Samuel Beckett – is under construction further east. It will be a swing bridge very similar to Puente de la Mujer.

Finally, the spectacular Chords Bridge in Jerusalem is one of Calatrava’s more notable recent bridge designs, but unfortunately it’s not yet visible on Google Maps.

The second part of this examination of Calatrava’s work looks at some of his most famous and notable buildings.

Thanks to Redder Zooming.

Locations: Argentina, Ireland, Italy, Spain / Categories: Bridges, Shadows, Street Views, Structures

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So it’s in Spain where we start with the world’s oldest surviving bullring: Las Virtudes in Santa Cruz de Mudela. It was built way back in 1641, when the bullrings were actually bullsquares – the round shape was adopted later on to prevent the action being confined to the corners.

The style of Spanish bullfighting has changed very little since 1726, when Francisco Romero got off of his horse to fight on foot with the famous red cape and sword.

This tradition was taken with the emigrants to the Americas, where the oldest remaining bullring can be dated back to 1766. By now firmly set on the round shape, Plaza de Acho in Lima, Peru accommodates 13,000 spectators.

Back in Spain, we find the second largest bullring in the world, Las Ventas in Madrid. With a capacity for 25,000 spectators, it has also been used for an AC/DC concert, and hosted a semi-final of 2008’s Davis Cup tennis tournament¹.

To find the largest bullring in the world, we visit what was once the most populated city on the planet: Mexico City. Here we find the gigantic La Plaza Monumental, built in 1946 with a capacity for 41,262 people.

For obvious reasons, bullfighting has drawn a lot of criticism throughout the world, and I’m surprised that these massive venues are still able to draw enough crowds to keep the tradition alive.

However, there are signs that bullfighting will not be around forever: it is no longer televised in Spain, and many opinion polls have shown the majority of the public are just not interested.

In Tijuana, Mexico we can use Google Earth’s historical imagery to see before and after shots of a recently demolished bullring that wasn’t pulling in enough business.

Earlier this year the city of Viana do Castelo in Portugal took the bold step of banning bullfights altogether. Their small ancient bullring will now be used as a “science and education centre”. Presumably bull dissections will not be part of the cirriculum.

This entry is based on an original article from the recently re-launched Google Sightseeing Español, where new author Luis Moreno is posting translated sights from here and original Spanish-langauge content.

Locations: Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Spain / Categories: Stadiums and Sport

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Update: As expected this image has been quickly removed by Google. For those who feel compelled to have a closer look, here’s a screenshot.

Unfortunately for this gentleman in Barcelona, he has chosen to take a pee by the side of the road just as the Google Street View car was passing.

What sets this man apart from others who have done the same, is that instead of turning his back on the passing cars, he foolishly chose to relieve himself whilst facing the street.

Luckily for him, Google’s face-blurring technology was working on this occasion, but unluckily for us, his penis remains completely un-blurred. If you think it looks a little small from here, then you can actually zoom in quite a lot closer (if you dare).

We’ve previously seen naked breasts, bums, and blurry lady-bits on Google Street View, as well as many different men (and even a woman) who have been caught taking a leak, but we never imagined we would ever see urination in such explicit detail.¹

I’m not sure about you dear reader², but I for one hope that we never have to see anyone captured, um… dropping the kids off at the pool.

Locations: Spain / Categories: Rudeness, Street Views

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Street View has arrived here in the UK at long last, and Google have given us imagery in many parts of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Additionally, Street View is now available in the Netherlands for the first time, and while they were at it, Google has added several new cities in France and Spain!

Coverage is extensive, and covers all of the UK’s major cities. Both of the GSS HQs in Edinburgh and Oxford have coverage, and London has an absolutely staggering number of blue lined streets!

In Edinburgh the images appear to have been taken mainly during the Edinburgh Festival, which explains why there’s lots of odd looking people around.¹ You can see the seating for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in place on the Castle Esplanade.

Here’s London’s seat of power, Downing Street, showing off their awesome security measures, which has been captured alongside all of the other standard tourist sights like the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

In Belfast, it seems that the famous Northern Irish political murals aren’t safe from Google’s face-blurring software!

The Netherlands has also received a large helping of Street View today with coverage of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Here’s the “Coffee Shop Extase” and Sex Museum:

Other reports are coming in of new Street View imagery in France (including Calais and Le Havre), Spain (including expanded coverage or Barcelona), Northern Italy, and expanded coverage in numerous US states.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest news, and new Street Views throughout the day.

Google Maps Mania has a good selection of London sights to see, but what else have you found?

Locations: England, France, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales / Categories: Site News, Street Views

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The name Alhambra means red fortress – after the red clay from which it was constructed in the 14th century, though the first fort on the site was traced back to 9th or 10th century. Built to house Muslim rulers in the region, the complex includes a number of palaces, towers and defensive features, including the alcazaba (citadel) with walls and watchtowers protecting the interior buildings.

The Royal Complex containing ceremonial areas, offices and the harem is located at the northern edge of the plateau.

These buildings contain many beautiful architectural and artistic features, Islamic in origin, but quite unique due to the isolation from other Islamic areas, and local influences. Unfortunately, many features were damaged or destroyed in redevelopment efforts after the city was conquered in 1492.

Dominating the centre of the complex is the Palace of Charles V, built in 1527.

To the east, across a ravine, lies Generalife, the summer palace and gardens of the Muslim rulers.

The Water Garden Courtyard is quite well preserved, though many of the gardens are much more recent.

Live Maps has excellent bird’s eye views which let you explore the whole complex:

You can learn a lot more at the Alhambra’s official site, and Wikipedia.

Thanks to Gerhard, Jeff Burton, Seabhcan, Manuel Fernandez and Webmaster.

Locations: Spain / Categories: Buildings

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Yesterday Google released a major update to Google Earth, adding 3D oceans, a Mars browser and, best of all, historical imagery for much of the globe.

In some places the images go back decades, such as this shot of the Las Vegas strip from July 1950.

When compared with the current view you can see how the strip expanded around the airport, which was in the middle of a barren desert.

Manhattan island also has images for many different years, and going back to April 1994 we can see the World Trade Centre towers.

Although there’s a wealth of new images we’ve never seen before, the update also gives us back lots of great shots that had previously been removed.

Way back in May 2005 we posted a stealth bomber that had been spotted at Edward’s Air Force Base, but later vanished with an image update. Now, by scrolling back to March 15th 2005, the bomber re-appears.

Or, if we keep going back until May 1994 we can see a couple of Blackbirds instead.

We can also revisit one of my favourite sights from the Google Sightseeing archives, the SS American Star.

These days it’s almost completely submerged, but step back through time until 2000 and you’ll see it rise out of the water and right itself.

So, get browsing the archives, and let us know what’s returned!

Locations: California, Nevada, New York, Spain / Categories: Aircraft, Buildings, Watercraft

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After 28 years of service, mostly among Canada’s northern communities, the plane was retired in 1970 and lay idle for a while. Volunteer effort led to its restoration and it was mounted on a carefully designed pedestal in 1981. The plane is so well balanced that a wind of only 5 knots will cause it to turn. According to Wikipedia, the DC-3 is almost 20m long, 5m high and weighs over 8000kg.

I should mention that, from what I can tell, the plane has not been officially recognised, with the Guinness World Record currently being held by a weather vane atop the Tio Pepe facility in Jerez, Spain. However, as it’s somewhat smaller than a plane, and the Google images are not great, it’s hard to spot. Live Maps has a clearer view.

It’s difficult to find much information about the Tio Pepe weather vane – this site describes it as standing almost 40m tall (but judging from the pictures that height must includes the building it is atop) and weighing 2700kg.

In addition, there is a weather vane in Montague, MI staking a claim to be the largest, though again – at 14m tall and 8m long – it may be taller than a DC-3, but is not quite as big! The Google imagery of the town is very low resolution, but Live Maps has a pretty good bird’s eye view.

Locations: Michigan, Spain, Yukon / Categories: Aircraft, Structures

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No, it’s not what you’re thinking – quite the opposite in fact. This time, while working in Madrid, the Google car has captured an image of a woman taking a pee in the street.

Anyone want to take bets on how quickly this will be removed? And will El País pick up the story before then!?

Update: As expected, the image is now gone.

Locations: Spain / Categories: Rudeness, Street Views

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