The National Grand Theater
The face of the Chinese National Grand Theater was unveiled in Beijing on Monday when protection shields of the last thirty of nearly 20,000 titanium boards were peeled off. With the construction of the controversial building designed by the French architect Paul Andreu now nearly completed, the interior will be finished by the end of this year. The theater's bold design is as much a spectacle as the productions that will be staged inside in the 2,416-seat opera house, the 2,017-seat concert hall, and the 1,040-seat theater. At night, the semi-transparent skin will give passersby a glimpse of the performance inside one of three auditoriums, a feature that highlights the building's public nature.
