Shanghai Grand Opera House
Snøhetta architects
Location: Shanghai, China
Status: Under Construction

Following an international design competition, Snøhetta has been commissioned to design the Shanghai Grand Opera House in Shanghai, China. The project aims to attract a broad audience through offering both traditional and Chinese opera performances, classical concerts and more experimental performances that will attract a younger audience.

Snøhetta has developed the architectural, landscape, interior, and graphic design for the Opera, and the project will be undertaken in partnership with Shanghai-based architects ECADI.

The new Opera House is an important part of a new urban master plan for Shanghai that aims to place the city at the forefront of the globe, economically, scientifically, and culturally. The Opera House is expected to become one of the major cultural landmarks of Shanghai – the country’s 13th Five-Year Plan names it as the most important initiative to strengthen Shanghai’s cultural and global influence.

The new Opera House will be built in the Expo Houtan neighbourhood, located at the convex bank in the riverside area near the Huangpu River. The neighbourhood, which will have an ecological and low-carbon profile, emphasises the Opera’s mission of being a public and open venue. The radial layout of the surrounding landscapes harmonises with the overall geometry of the Opera building, ensuring key view paths from both the Opera to the city, and from the city to the Opera.

Designed to bring artists and the public under a shared roof, the sweeping form of the new Opera House connotes movement. The helical roof surface evokes an unfolding fan, capturing the dynamism of dance and the human body. Generating both surface and space, the radial movements of the roof form a spiralling staircase that connects ground and sky, while creating views towards the city and the Huangpu river banks.

The spiralling, fanning motions extend throughout the project, into the lobby, the halls, and the three auditoriums. The Opera House’s visual identity also references the same movements, with the new, clean logo characterised by a highly recognisable open fan pattern.

The Shanghai Grand Opera House is a natural progression of our previous work with designing performing arts centres. It is a culmination of the competence and insight gained through projects such as the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, the Busan Opera House in South Korea, the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in Canada, and the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers renovation in Paris. The Shanghai Grand Opera House is a product of our contextual understanding and values, designed to promote public ownership of the building for the people of Shanghai and beyond.

more. www.snohetta.com