We think the enormous, fan-shaped, stair roof on the Shanghai Grand Opera House could be one of the defining architectural landmarks in all of China. That roof. Wow.

Snøhetta’s Shanghai Grand Opera House is rising along the Huangpu River, and its massive, spiraling fan-shaped roof unfolding atop layered public terraces—a civic rallying point as much as a performance venue.

The sweeping structure blends a climbable rooftop, sweeping glass facades, and thermal-white surfaces that glow like lanterns, inviting visitors day and night.

Set to open later this year, the ambition, scale, and grace of the opera house invites a sense of wonder and discovery, and is definitely going to cement Shanghai as a cultural and architectural powerhouse.

See renderings of the finished space in our previous post.

The rooftop terraces and winding pathways elevate public space—literally—transforming the roof into a vertical extension of the city.

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