This building, which was designed by Paul Andreu, is located in the city of Taiyuan. It have five oblique volumes and they are made with glass paneling. Again, this is one of his works that are different from his “signature” buildings, which contains domes and is located int he midst or close to some body of water. It is museum that can be spotted from a distance and is also one of the cities tourists main attractions. I like the extravagant colors of the building instead of the typical stone colors. He incorporated interesting shapes , which is a major deviation from the norm. All in all, I believe that he is a diverse architect that is entrusted with many buildings in many different cities such as China, France and Japan.

This building was also constructed in China. It is known to be a cultural center in China. It is the landmark of development for the city’s cultural and performing arts, and is a location for international cultural exchange in that many different people from many different countries go and perform at this place. I think this is one of  Andreu’s most basic buildings because it is not dome shaped, it is not in water nor is it made of pure glad. It reminds me of a common building you would see in many downtown area’s here in the states. I think the concept and what is stands for in China is incredible. It stands for cultural integration in that it bring many different ethnicities and cultures together for a common purpose to reach people: music and performance.

This building is located in Osaka, Japan. It is a museum that reflects the maritime history of the port in the city. I Think this building is interesting because it is a true dome that does not have roofs that open or anything of that nature. It also seemingly floats in the water, which seems to be one of Andreu’s signatures along with making buildings that resemble domes. It is said that he based the building on a “vivian’s dome”. There is a tunnel in the building that has I’m blue lighting and reflections of water on the walls, which is very aesthetic. The construction period for the building was short. It only took 25 months. The dome was able to building offsite, but the inside had to be build onsite. It is also more earthquake resistant because of the different locations of construction for the internal and external parts of the building.

This building is called the Oriental Art Center, which is located in Shanghai, China. It contains a gorgeous philharmonic orchestra hall that seats almost 2000 people., a lyric theatre that hold roughly 1000 people, and a chamber music hall that hold about 300 people. An interesting aspect of this building is that it changes shape as you move around and it roof opens up to the sky above. There are five halls that reflect petals and they are combined to resemble a butterfly. The ceiling change color during the night to also resemble the nature of the performances that are being given inside of the halls. I think this is an interesting building because it is very distinct and would be noticeable and striking to any commoner walking down the street, which probably contributes to it’s success.

Grande Arche is a building designed by Paul Andreu. It is a monument in France, and it is to the west of Paris. It is also commonly known as the Arche de la Défense. The building was not originally designed by Paul Andreu, as it initially belonged to the president, an architect by the name of Johann Otto von Spreckelsen and a Danish engineer Erik Reitzel. It is a very interesting looking building because it is hollow in the middle, and because of that it does not reflect the traditional idea of a building. An Interesting fact about the building is that is was built so that it would share an axis with two of the tallest buildings in Paris, which are the Eiffel Tower and Tour Montparnasse. This is a good building to visit as a tourist of France because the roof is a great place to capture a total and breathtaking view of the city.

The National Centre for the Performing Arts is a building that was envisioned and designed by the architect Paul Andreu. It is located in Beijing, China and it often revered to as “The Giant Egg.” It is a beautifully shaped building that sits in the midst of an artificial lake. It seats 5,452 people and contains three halls. It is also a relatively new building, as it was begun in December of 2001. I like the building because it has a very modern appearance, and it is very open. There are stairways in the building that people use to enter the establishment that are located underwater as well as an entirely glass and titanium outer shell. The three major performing venues are the Opera Hall, The Music Hall and the Theatre Hall. The Theatre Hall is the smallest and the Opera Hall is the largest and also contains the most seats.