National Centre for the Performing Arts Ⅰ

The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA for short), colloquially described as 'The Egg', is an opera house in Beijing, People's Republic of China. The Centre, an ellipsoid dome of titanium and glass surrounded by an artificial lake, seats 6,500 people in three halls and is almost 12,000 square meters (2.96 acres) in size. It was designed by French architect Paul Andreu. The construction started in December 2001 and the inaugural concert was held in December 2007.

The location, immediately to the west of Tiananmen Square and the Great Hall of the People, and near the Forbidden City, combined with the theatre's futuristic design, created considerable controversy. Paul Andreu countered that although there is indeed value in ancient traditional Chinese architecture, Beijing must also include modern architecture, as the capital of the country and an international city of great importance. His design, with large open space, water, trees, was specially designed to complement the red walls of ancient buildings and the Great Hall of the People, in order to melt into the surroundings as opposed to standing out against them.