Posted on 4/2/2016
Until the opening of its extraordinarily sinuous opera house, Harbin, in China's remote and cold north-east provinces, has been mostly known for its annual blow-out ice-sculpture festival. However, the Beijing-based MAD Architects have pushed China's eighth most populous city to the top of the country's cultural league-table with a defiant flourish.
Just a decade ago, a building like the Harbin Opera House could not have been made. But a combination of technological and engineering leaps, computer wizardry and fearless deep-pocketed clients has meant that now, for the first time, architects are able to give free-rein to their wildest imaginations.
Set within the wetlands of the Harbin Cultural Island – an arts h...