Buildings
Beijing Has Safety Fears after Paris Tragedy
(archrecord.construction.com - 05/26/04)
By Tony
Illia
The Shanghai Evening Post reports that
an assessment of Paul Andreu's Beijing National Theater could
be made to allay safety fears. Andreu desgined the recently
collapsed terminal at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
Shocked, Andreu has flown back to Paris
to aid in the investigation as work continues on the theater.
The $328 million egg-shaped National Theater will seat 6,000
people and is due for completion next year.
"We will probably relaunch a safety
assessment of the whole design project, due to safety fears,"
a government-appointed official overseeing the theater's construction
told the Shanghai Evening Post.
Wu Huanjia, of Qinghua University's
School of Architecture, said: "It is necessary for China
to learn a lesson and to be more cautious and accurate in
the safety of architecture.
"For the moment, we cannot definitely
conclude that the airport walkway collapse was a result of
the design. It was most probably caused by materials or bad
construction."
In addition to the National Theater,
Mr. Andreu, 66, has designed the new Guangzhou Stadium, Shanghai
Pudong Airport, Sanya airport in Hainan, and the Shanghai
Pudong Oriental Arts Center.
Read
past Architectural Record coverage of Paul Andreu's work with
Shanghai-Pudong International Airport
|
