Ocean Giant Threatens Canary Islands

An enormous green wave towers 200 feet over Tenerife, just off the coast of Africa. Made of free-standing concrete, it's merely part of the striking new concert hall that opened there in September. The new Tenerife Auditorium is a 1600-seat hall set along the water in the capital of this Spanish-owned island chain. Its conical main hall evokes a nearby volcano, and the curved concrete wave, which looks green when washed with lights at night, represents the surrounding seas.

The $80 million hall is expected to draw comparisons with Sydney's famous Opera House. The Tenerife Auditorium's designer, Spanish native Santiago Calatrava, is known for the bold shapes and gravity-challenging curves he has used in his bridges, towers, and buildings. Calatrava's Valencia (Spain) Opera House is due to open in 2004. His designs for Atlanta's Symphony Center are expected to be unveiled early in 2004. He also recently won a commission to design the rebuilt train station at New York's Ground Zero.

See a photographic portfolio of Santiago Calatrava's work at his web site

Read more about the Tenerife Auditorium in Architecture Week and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Find out about Atlanta's Symphony Center project