Beijing National Opera

This landmark theater in  Beijing is just a stone's throw from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. As in other visionary projects involving woven metal mesh in architecture, the remarkable aesthetic properties of the material were the initial reason for its choice. The panels, totaling over 54,000 square feet, act as a veil. But the visual fascination of the gold-glittering cladding is only half the story. The material also has very convincing functional properties. As fireproof safety balustrading that reduces drafts and noise yet allows optimal air circulation, it combines openness and protection in an outstandingly elegant way. The French architect Paul Andreu won the competition with his proposal of a giant shellfish floating like a protective canopy in an artificial lake.   A custom "golden" product Xinghai was developed for the partitions.