1．The Construction of the National Grand Theater of China

The National Grand Theater(国家大剧院)is situated in the heart of Beijing on Chang'an Avenue(长安街)next to the Great Hall of the People(人民大会堂)and about 500 meters from Tian'anmen Square(天安门广场)and the Forbidden City(紫禁城). It is a curved building, with a total surface area of 149,500 square meters, which emerges like an island at the center of a lake.

During the day, light flows through the glass roof into the building. At night, the movements within can be seen from outside. The building houses three performance areas—a 2,416-seat opera house, a 2,017-seat concert hall and a 1,040-seat theater—as well as art and exhibition spaces opened to a wide public.

The building is connected to the shore by way of a 60-meter long underground passage which can be seen through, so the outside of the building doesn't have any openings but provides the public with a passage from their daily world to the world of opera and dreams.

The areas inside that are open to the general public take the form of an urban district with different spaces:streets, shopping areas, restaurants, and restful spaces. The different performance areas open onto this public area. Their entrances are so positioned in order to ensure an even distribution of people, and a smooth, easy flow while giving each element in the project a different character.

The opera house is at the center. It is the most important element in the project, and by the art that is practiced there, it is the one that is most mysterious. The concert hall and the theater are situated on either side of the opera house.

The decision to build the Grand National Theatre in a place of such historical and symbolic significance clearly shows the importance given to culture in its relationship with history and the modern world. For this reason, the building shows respect for the buildings around it, each of which marks the history of the architecture in China.