Configuration Led to ‘Spirit’ Plus Acoustical Richness
During preparation for the design competition for the National Grand Theatre, architect Paul Andreu focused on broad concepts rather than details. When he later turned his attention to the opera house, he ditched the original shoe box design, preferring a more fluid geometry with the audience closer to the performers. Now, "everything is curved inside [with the spirit] of Italian theater, but with the acoustics of a big theater of today," says Andreu.
Preliminary engineering was jettisoned as acoustical consultant Jean-Paul Vian, of Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment, began grappling with the more difficult horse-shoe-shaped auditorium. With 2,400 seats, the opera hall has 18,900-cu-m of space, with the farthest seat located 43 m from the stage. The space is rectilinear structurally, with a 34-m average width and 17.5 m ceiling height.