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Tiananmen Square - the largest urban plaza in the world - is not a place of timid architecture. Its Great Hall of the People and other Soviet-style structures are so immense, they seem to have gravitational fields all their own. Just west of the square, the colossal National Grand Theater is slated for completion by 2005. The 1.6 million-square-foot building, designed by French architect Paul Andreu, houses three performance halls under its titanium-clad dome. Some call it an icon of the New China, others a "big duck egg" that should have no nest in Beijing. Either way, the $320 million theater has made a mark on the city with its high cost and in-your-face design, sparking a controversy that extends to the highest levels of government. As Andreu himself has explained, "Creation always disturbs the past."
- Thomas J. Campanella
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