National Center for the Performing Arts 2007

This national theatre covered by an immense dome holds a 2,416-seat opera house, a 2,017-seat concert hall, a 1,040-seat concert hall, and other performance venues. We were commissioned to design the lighting for the dome’s public area after construction had already begun and was entering its final stage. The light environment inside the dome makes use of natural light and therefore demanded the most meticulous attention to detail. We analyzed how perspective shifted inside the space and worked out the lighting design with simulations that ranked in order of priority 12 types of background luminance.
Regrettably, we were not commissioned to supervise the work and the lighting does not achieve the environment our design intended. This is a common issue for state projects in China, and it reminded us just how important it is to entrust the entire project process – from design through construction and supervision – to the same organization.