Top of the World
The National Grand Theater, by Paul Andreu is a magnificent and gigantic project finished a few months ago, complementing all the infrastructure been built for the big sports event. The building is situated in the heart of Beijing on Chang An Avenue next to the Great Hall of the People and about 500 meters from Tian An Men Square and the Forbidden City.t is a curved building, with a total surface area of 149,500 square meters, that emerges like an island at the center of a lake. The titanium shell is in the shape of a super ellipsoid with a maximum span of 213 meters, a minimum span of 144 meters and a height of 46 meters). It is divided in two by a curved glass covering, 100 meters wide at the base. 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 auditoriums - a 2,416-seat opera house, a 2,017 seat concert hall and a 1,040 theatre - as well as art and exhibition spaces
