L'Umbracle, Valencia

L'Umbracle is a long, open sculpture garden and landscaped walkway within Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences. Santiago Calatrava designed it as an entrance to the complex and as a cover for the car park; the work was completed in 2001. Its high-tech architecture is most striking in the repeated parabolic arches, which shelter a planted promenade.

The structure measures 320 metres in length and 60 metres across, with 55 fixed arches and 54 floating arches reaching 18 metres high. Inside, the Walk of the Sculptures brings contemporary art into the garden, with works by Miquel Navarro, Francesc Abbot, Yoko Ono and others. Around them, Mediterranean and Valencian planting includes palms, shrubs, climbing plants and aromatic herbs, selected so the garden changes character with the seasons.