Almost 20 years after Snøhetta won the competition to design the opera house in Bjørvika, they have won the competition to design the new opera house in Shanghai in China.
Previously, the architectural office also designed the opera house in Busan in South Korea, and The Shanghai Grand Opera thus becomes their third opera house wrote Aftenposten newspaper.
When Snøhetta starts the project, they will gain inspiration from the Oslo Opera House, where the public’s access to the roof has been a success.
‘’When we received the invitation to participate in this competition, it was a prerequisite that the audience could go on the roof of the building. Therefore, we have chosen the same social, open, democratic approach for this building, such as the Opera in Oslo has. Here, the Opera in Oslo has set a standard’’ said Snøhetta founder, Kjetil Trædal Thorsen.
According to the plans, the opera house in Shanghai will be completed in 2023. The size will be considerably larger than the opera house in Oslo, as it will be 100,000 square metres. By comparison, the Oslo Opera is about 40,000 square metres.
The Opera House is located by the Huangpu River, which according to Thorsen means that there is already a lot of good infrastructure in the area. The building will be designed with large open glass facades, wooden interiors, and three different halls that will accommodate anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 seats.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
