L'Oceanogràfic

The Oceanographic (Valencian: L'Oceanogràfic, Spanish: El Oceonográfico) is a marine park situated in the east of the city of Valencia, Spain, where different marine habitats are represented. It was designed by the architect Felix Candela and the structural engineers Alberto Domingo and Carlos Lazaro. It is integrated inside the cultural complex known as the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències.

General information

The Oceanographic is the largest complex of its type in Europe with a surface of 111.000 square meters and a capacity of water of 42.000.000 litres. It has 45,000 animals of 500 different species including fish, mammals, birds, reptiles and invertebrates — amongst these are sharks, penguins, dolphins, sea lions, walruses, beluga whales, and more — all inhabiting nine underwater towers. Each tower is structured in two levels and represent the major ecosystems of the planet.

The park is divided into ten areas. The marine areas reflect the Mediterranean habitats, the polar oceans — the Arctic, the islands, the tropical seas, the temperate seas and the Red Sea. The park also includes a dolphinarium, an auditorium with a Red Sea aquarium, an area of mangrove swamps and marshland, and a garden with more than 80 different species of plant.

The sea water is pumped from the beach of La Malvarrosa having passed all of the necessary requirements for quality.

The architecture of the complex is a work of the architect Felix Candela and the engineers Alberto Domingo and Carlos Lazaro, who made the structural design of the concrete coverings of the buildings.

Articles and other references

• A. Domingo, C. Lázaro; "Ciutat de les Arts i de les Ciéncies: The Expressive Strength of Structures"; International Association of Shell and Spacial Structures (IASS). Madrid 1999.
• A. Domingo, C. Lázaro, P. Serna; "Design of a thin shell steel fibre reinforced concrete Hypar roof"; International Association of Shell and Spacial Structures (IASS). Madrid 1999.
• A. Domingo, C. Lázaro; "CIUDAD DE LAS ARTES Y LAS CIENCIAS EN VALENCIA:ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING AND LEISURE"; Computational Methods for Shell and Spatial Structures IASS-IACM 2000 M. Papadrakakis, A. Samartin and E. Onate (Eds.) © ISASR-NTUA, Athens,Greece 2000.
• A. Domingo, C. Lázaro, P. Serna; "USE OF STEEL FIBER REINFORCED CONCRETE IN THIN SHELL STRUCTURES: EVALUATION OF FIBER PERFORMANCE THROUGH TESTING OF SHELL SPECIMENS"; Computational Methods for Shell and Spatial Structures IASS-IACM 2000 M. Papadrakakis, A. Samartin and E. Onate (Eds.) © ISASR-NTUA, Athens,Greece 2000.
• A. Domingo, C. Lázaro, P. Serna; "JChypar. Una lámina delgada de hormigón con fibras de acero" Libro: En Blanco II. Biblioteca TC - Ediciones Generales de la Construcción. (ISBN 84-934444-7-2).
• A. Domingo, P. Serna, C. Lázaro; "Estudio del comportamiento del hormigón con fibras de acero en elementos laminares de pequeño espesor y su comportamiento post-fisuración"; Revista Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja. Hormigón y Acero ISSN 0439-5689.
• A. Domingo, C. Lázaro; "Evolution and Trends in Design Analysis and Construction of Shell and Spatial Structures"; Proceedings of the IASS Symposium 2009, Valencia; (ISBN 978-84-8363-461-5)

External links

• L'Oceanografic en Ciudad de Las Artes y las Ciencias (Official website)
• CMD Ingenieros. Valencia
• Página oficial turística de Valencia
• Página Comité Empresa Oceanografico Valencia