Shanghai’s new Grand Opera house debuts with gravity-defying spiral staircase

Despite its curtain raising rather late in the year, Shanghai’s new opera house has elbowed its way to the front row of international architectural debuts, thanks to a gravity-defying grand staircase.

Rising above the banks of the Huangpu River, the commission for the Grand Opera House was awarded 10 years ago to Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta.

The team reasoned that despite being architectural marvels, opera houses contain many “thresholds” that limit the ability of people to appreciate and interact with a building. Their hope was to remove these thresholds and create greater harmony with the civic environment.

Nothing epitomizes this more than the head-turning spiral staircase on the building’s exterior, drawing visitors towards the heart of its crescent floorplan. Inspired by the Chinese fan, it allows anyone, ticket holders or otherwise, to climb to an observation platform with views of the central business district.

The 1.6 million-square-foot opera house accommodates 4,200 seats across three auditoriums — the 2,000-seat Harmony auditorium, the 1,200-seat Soar Theater for intimate and traditional Chinese Xiqu operas, and the 1,000-seat Open Stage for experimental formats with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the river.

The hall opened last weekend with a performance of Puccini’s Tosca, followed by Verdi’s Aida this weekend. The American Ballet Theatre is set to bring Swan Lake in three weeks.