| Harbin Opera House | |
| Status: | completed |
| Image Alt: | Aerial view of Harbin Grand Theatre |
| Building Type: | Performing arts centre |
| Location: | Cultural Island, Harbin |
| Location Country: | China |
| Coordinates: | 45.8071°N 126.5787°W |
| Groundbreaking Date: | April 2011 |
| Opened Date: | 2015 |
| Inauguration Date: | 2015 |
| Main Contractor: | Sika AG et al. |
| Architect: | Ma Yansong |
The Harbin Grand Theatre or Harbin Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China. Measuring 850,349 square-foot, the theatre is designed by well-known Chinese architect agency MAD led by Ma Yansong.[1]
The theatre is situated in Harbin, a UNESCO-listed "City of Music",[2] hosting city of the renowned annual Harbin Summer Music Concert and a metropolis where China's first ever orchestra was established. The building serves as the centerpiece of Harbin's Cultural Island—an arts hub by the Songhua River and surrounding wetlands in suburban Harbin.
Clad entirely in white aluminium panels, the opera house swoops and curls against the bleak landscape, at times resembling a thundering snow-drift and, at others, a hyper-stylised tented yurt.[3] The primal references are deliberate, a not entirely subtle nod to the region's harsh climate and wild topography., making it nicely embedded into the surrounding nature. While the bold and beautiful structure inside the opera house achieves zen aesthetics with contemporary white walls, atmospheric skylights and tons of timber.[4]
The Harbin Grand Theatre includes a number of performance venues:[5]
Ma wanted its snow-white structure to have a soothing aesthetic, in contrast to modern landmark buildings in Chinese cities which are often towering and imposing. The architect emphasized the building's integration to nature as an extension of surrounding wetlands, waterways, and snowy terrain.
The architect "envision(s) Harbin Opera House as a cultural center of the future – a tremendous performance venue, as well as a dramatic public space that embodies the integration of human, art and the city identity".[6]
The Harbin Grand Theatre won the ArchDaily 2016 Building of the Year Award,[7] WAN Performing Spaces Award 2016[8] and 2017 IALD Award.[9]