AnnualReport_2008

中 国 国 家 大 劇 院
NATIONAL GRAND THEATER OF CHINA
BEIJING 2007 PAUL ANDREU ARCHITECT
Right in front of the Forbidden City and hidden under a gigantic titanium dome is the opera house. Construction
had started and just as the project was entering its most interesting stage, LPA was commissioned to plan the
public area lighting inside the dome. With all of the natural light filling the dome and complexity, the lighting
environment needed special attention. During the design process we analyzed possible movements of visitor
viewpoints throughout the dome and prioritized them into 12 categories for background luminance simulations.
Unfortunately we were not commissioned to continue our work during the supervision phase and the result is
not our intended lighting effect. Generally, this is a problem with most projects in China. Ideally, a consistent
design office should be contracted all the way through to the end of the supervision phase.