A literature study on " The Egg" also known as the largest sky dome in the world, the deepest building in Beijing and home to the largest pipe organ in Asia.
2. The National Center for the
Performance Arts, also known as
"the egg" formerly named the Chinese
National Grand Theater, is the largest
performing art center in the world.
The beautiful National Grand Theatre
has an ellipsoid shape, which is not only
quite stunning to the eye but is also an
engineering marvel in itself.
It was designed as an iconic feature,
something that would be immediately
recognizable.
3. Location : 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.
It was designed by French architect Paul
Andreu. Construction started in
December 2001 and the inaugural
concert was held in December 2007.
4. Location controversy
Its location provoked some controversy because of its proximity to Tiananmen Square, the Great Hall of the
People and the Forbidden City.
Andreu argued that, as an important international city, Beijing should include modern as well as ancient
traditional Chinese architecture. The inclusion of the lake and the green ring were part of the design solution
to complement the ancient architecture and prevent the contrast being too jarring.
5. The building is situated like an island in the middle of an artificial lake of 35,500 sq.m.
Around the lake a green ring of 39,000 sq.m is intended to isolate the building from the noise of the city.
The total area covered by the National Centre for the Performing Arts is around 219, 400 meter square.
6. The dome measures 212
meters in east–west
direction, 144 meters in
north–south direction,
and is 46 meters high.
The main entrance is at
the north side.
The titanium shell is
broken by a glass curtain
in north–south direction
that gradually widens
from top to bottom.
7. From the north entrance visitors
descend a grand staircase to the
Underwater Corridor that stretches
80 meters beneath the outdoor
lake. The glass ceiling allows the
light to shimmer through the lake
water.
The floor in the huge Foyer
is covered in stone from 10
different regions in China,
the interior walls are lined
with tens of thousands of
panels Brazilian rosewood.
The huge floor to ceiling
glass curtain bathes the
interior in natural light or
reveals the city’s lights at
night.
8. It is covered with 18,000 titanium plates,
integrated with more than 1,000 sheets of
ultra-white glass; a low-iron glass with high
light transmission.
Internally, there are three major
performance halls:
The Opera Hall is used for operas, ballet,
and dances and seats 2,416.
The Music Hall is used for concerts and
recitals and seats 2,017.
The Theatre Hall is used for plays and the
Beijing opera. It has 1,040 seats.
9. The Opera House • The magnificent Opera House is
mainly used to stage operas, dance
dramas, ballets, and large-scale
shows.
• The arc-shaped metal net wall of the
auditorium changes the lights and
shadows according to different
circumstance to bring the audience
into the immersed artistic space with
the development of plots.
• The surface of the ballet stage is
made of Oregon timber and its triple-
layer construction ensures the
greatest possible resilience, helping
to protect the feet of dancers.
• The Opera House can seat 2,416
people.
10. • Exuding an air of serenity and
refinement, the silver white
Concert Hall is the venue for
mainly large symphonic and
national music performances.
• The audience can enjoy all
performances from any angle.
• The Concert Hall is home to a
giant pipe organ, the “Hall
Guardian”, which is believed to be
the largest of its kind in China with
94 stops and an impressive array
of 6,500 pipes.
• The over-100-ton white ceiling of
the Concert Hall is specially
designed to embody an ideal
integration between architectural
and acoustic aesthetics.
• The Concert Hall seats 2,017
people.
The Concert Hall
11. • The Theatre is a tribute to the
traditional theatre atmosphere
of warmth and hospitality, and
stages primarily traditional
Chinese operas, stage plays and
national song and dance.
• The vertical stripes in purple,
dark red, orange and yellow
regularly alternate with each
other on the walls to express a
sense of vividness in quiet, and
imagination in realization.
• The Theater Hall is used for
plays and the Beijing opera. It
has 1,040 seats
The Theatre
12. There are also many smaller places located inside the
National Center for Performance Arts such as: an
underwater hallway, an exhibition hall, olive hall, library
center, Press-release hall, souvenir shop, and a coffee house.
In these locations, visitors or audience members can enjoy
other aspects of this amazing building other than just
performances.
13. Multi-functional Hall
Apart from the three major performance halls
which have been listed above, the NCPA, Beijing
also has another hall which is the multi-functional
hall which is situated in the south of the NCPA.
The hall has a seating capacity of around 140.
Olive Hall
This hall acts as the gateway or the entrance for
the three major performance halls of the NCPA.
14. The National Center for Performance
Arts has been listed among the top ten
architectural miracles by the USA, for its
energy-saving and environmentally-
sound design. The center has three
firsts: it is the largest sky dome in the
world, the deepest building in Beijing,
and is home to the largest pine organ in
Asia. As its prompters have said, the
National Center for Performance Arts
has a lush dazzling interior,
sophisticated acoustics and a design
that that is superior to most of Europe's
or America's performing arts centers.
