Shanghai Grand Opera House Taking Shape
Photo: StudioSZ
Following an international design competition, Snøhetta has been commissioned to design the Shanghai Grand Opera House in Shanghai in 2017. The project is designed to captivate a diverse group of audience offering both traditional opera performances and concerts, as well as experimental performances. The dynamics, openness and comprehensive programs beyond performing will make the Opera House as one of the major cultural landmarks in Shanghai.
Snøhetta has developed the architectural, landscape, interior, and graphic design for the Opera house, and the project is undertaken in partnership with East China Architectural Design&Research Institute (ECADI), Theatre Projects and Nagata Acoustics. Recently, the construction of Opera House has been progressing rapidly: after the main structure and enclosure, the major work will shift to interiors and landscape with full construction set to be completed in late 2025.
Photo: StudioSZ
The Shanghai Grand Opera House is located at the Houtan neighborhood along the Huangpu River waterfront in Shanghai. The neighborhood, which has an ecological and low-carbon profile, emphasizes the Opera’s mission of being a public and open venue. The radial layout of the surrounding landscapes harmonizes 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.
Photo: StudioSZ
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 riverbanks.
The spiraling, 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 characterized by a highly recognizable open fan pattern.
Photo: StudioSZ
The Shanghai Grand Opera House is a natural progression of our previous work with designing performing arts centers. 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.
Kjetil Trædal Thorsen Founding Partner of Snøhetta
The Opera roof will become an accessible stage and meeting place, suitable to both large-scale events and everyday visitors. In celebrating both the collective and the individual, the plaza will allow visitor access 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, engendering a sense of public ownership. Read more about Shanghai Grand Opera House here.
Photo: StudioSZ
