Harbin Opera House
Construction
Over my three months of working in Beijing, I gained tremendous insight into a highly unique design methodology. During my time at MAD, I worked primarily on the Opera House segment of the Harbin Cultural Island project. The 117,000 square meter development is conceived as a mountainous public space and holds a 1,600- and 400-seat theater, studios, education facilities, an exhibition space and a variety of retail. 70% of the site will be developed to retain its existing wetland characteristics and will function as a public park while flood gates installed in the levee will allow controlled natural circulation of water into the site. The whole development, including the park, is roughly half the size of Central Park. My role involved HVAC and structural design integration, glazing and shading studies, and parametric modeling.