5 - Valencia Congress Hall, Valencia, Spain

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Valencia is a city that never sleeps, with an extensive cultural line-up all year round including various festivals, concerts, shows and exhibitions. The climate is warm most of the year, making the attractive southern Spanish city pleasant to explore. Part of its contrasting pieces of architecture is the elegant and contemporary Palacio de Congresos (Congress Hall). A place of exchange and forward-thinking, the award-wining Valencia Congress Centre has proven to be a significant contributor to the growth of tjis dynamic city. Earning the city 16 times the amount it cost to build, it is not hard to see why event organisers flock to the glass structure. The congress hall has become a veritable emblem of the city since its opening in 1998. Its glass and steel-clad exterior walls let in plenty of light, and with Valencia's frequent good weather, blue skies and golden sunshine provide dynamic and fresh wallpaper to the building interiors. Natural light flooding in also helps to reduce energy consumption by reducing the need for artificial light. Its roof combs the glass walls like a leaf of photovoltaic panels (solar cells) demonstrating the city's commitment to the environment which is in-keeping with the Foster+Partners philosophy on environmental sustainability. The Valencia Congress Hall won Norman Foster the 1999 Award for Best European Building from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The avant-garde structure holds a total of 2,170 attendees in its various auditoriums and seminar rooms and today is one three European buildings to be shortlisted for the AIPC (International Association of Congress Centres) Innovation Award. If possible, the Congress Hall must be seen at nightfall: see the congress hall glow with the soft indoor lighting passing through its glass walls against a backdrop of petrol blue Valencian star-studded sky.

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