Official: Theatre construction to continue
By Cao Desheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-02-19 01:09

The result of the investigation into the cause of the fatal collapse of the terminal of the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris will not influence the ongoing construction of the China National Grand Theatre, said a proprietor committee official on Friday.

The two construction projects are both designed by the French designer Paul Andreu.

The proprietor committee of the theatre denied that they will reassess the project's safety.

"Around 70 per cent of the project has been completed and it will continue to be built as planned," said the committee's spokesman Wang Zhengming, adding his committee has no re-examination plan.

He said the safety of the project has always been the key issue that his committee had considered.

The Beijing-based China Times reported on Friday that the project's safety is likely to be re-examined considering possible flaws in the design of the project.

The safety of the opera house project is in the spotlight again as the collapsed terminal of Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris another of Paul Andreu's works was found to have design and structural faults.

A worker walks past the national grand theatre in the center of Beijing in this July 29, 2004 file photo. [Xinhua]

On Tuesday, a commission appointed by the French Government made public an investigative report about the cause of the fatal collapse of the newly-completed Terminal 2E at the French airport, putting the blame on the design and structure faults.

According to the report, the fallen terminal was not designed to support the stress it was put under and the concrete used in its shell weakened to the point where it gave way, the AFP news agency reported.

The enquiry did not apportion blame for the accident, but its results will be used by the magistrate who will determine in the coming weeks which individuals or companies will face legal proceedings.

Internationally-renowned architect Paul Andreu could also be named though he strenuously denies that there was any fault in his plans, the report said.

"The investigative report about the cause of the fatal collapse of the terminal of the Charles de Gaulle airport will have no bearing on the project under construction," Wang said.

The fact that the error found in the design of the terminal of the French airport does not mean similar flaws will happen in the theatre project, he said.

According to the official, the differences between the structures of the two projects in China and France also lower the possibilities of any problems.

The National Theatre, located near Beijing's central Tian'anmen Square, boasts an enormous glass and titanium tear-drop-like bubble structure surrounded by water.

The 2.68-billion-yuan (US$328 million), egg-shaped theatre will seat 6,000 people and is due for completion this year.

Before Andreu's design of the theatre was finally approved, it had sparked hot debate especially among architects, though the majority of the disputes lay in the design's appearance and great cost.

Wu Huanjia, a professor with the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University, was quoted by the Beijing News as saying it is necessary for China to learn a lesson and to be more cautious and accurate in the safety of architecture.

However, he added it is unreasonable to suspect the National Theatre's safety just because the Paris airport was designed by the same architect.

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