The new China National Theater in Beijing is taking shape, and what a shape it is.
It was designed by French architect Paul Andreu, whose previous works include the Grande Arche de la Defense in Paris and Shanghai’s new airport at Pudong. The selection of Andreu’s design provoked a bit of a stir a few years ago. The fuss is decribed in an AP report on cnn.com here. The money quote:
Andreu compared the controversy to that a decade ago over Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid at the Louvre museum in Paris.
“People cried that French culture was in danger,” Andreu said. “Now it is considered a wonderful thing.”