Its new library opened in November 2011, and was designed by Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei.
From 1965 to 1971 he lived and worked in Tokyo, Japan, where he collaborated in the offices of architect Kenzo Tange together with Arata Isozaki and Kisho Kurokawa.
The complex has two main buildings: M1, with an auditorium that seats 1400; and M2, in more contemporary style by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, with a number of smaller performance spaces.
The city in Biscay is composed of the titanium which protects the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by Frank Gehry, the glass which covers the entrances to the metro, designed by Norman Foster, or the steel which makes new urban development challenges possible such as the Isozaki Atea Towers by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, or Bilbao Airport by Santiago Calatrava.
The jury members were prominent international architects, such as Alessandro Mendini, Arata Isozaki and Shigeru Uchida.
The venue was designed by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki and Italian architect Pier Paolo Maggiora and is part of the larger complex known as the central compartment Olympic Composed of Olympic stadiums, the Swimming Hall and Park parade ground.