City of Culture of Galicia

The entrants were Ricardo Bofill, Manuel Gallego Jorreto, Annette Gigon and Mike Guyer, Steven Holl, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, Juan Navarro Baldeweg, Jean Nouvel, Dominique Perrault, Cesar Portela, Santiago Calatrava, who later withdrew his proposal, and Eisenman, whose proposal was selected for both conceptual uniqueness and exceptional harmony with the place.

The concept of the project is a new peak on Monte Gaiás, made up of a stony crust reminiscent of an archaeological site divided by natural breaks that resemble scallops, the traditional symbol of Compostela.

The building site has also become the base for the development of a public transparency urban experiment by the Spanish architect and artist Andrés Jaque.

The project has more than doubled its original budget and has not attracted significant numbers of visitors, becoming a white elephant for subsequent governments and taxpayers.

[3] Construction of the final two planned buildings was stopped in 2012 and terminated definitively in March 2013 following high cost overruns.

City of Culture of Galicia
Gaias Center Museum
Fontán Building, inaugurated in 2021