If in the impressive Bibliotheca Alexandrina Snøhetta proved that roofs can become facades, in the symbolic Norwegian National Opera and Ballet they demonstrated that roofs can also be plazas, and almost twenty-five years later the echoes of both designs reverberate in the unique proposal for the Shanghai Grand Opera House. During this time the Norwegian firm has become an international design practice with regional studios across the globe, and has turned formal freedom and linguistic indefinition into its peculiar sign of identity. Their appetite for reinvention allows them to efficiently address each context and propose specific solutions in each work. And so, in this new scenic excercise – developed in collaboration with ECADI, Theatre Projects and Nagata Acoustics – they seek inspiration in the dynamism of dance to raise a fan-shaped building that will become a key piece in the development of Houtan and one of the major cultural landmarks in the country...[+]