NPR's Rob Gifford reports on a controversy over the design of a new national theater building in Beijing. Building a national theatre is a matter of great pride to the people of Beijing. The Chinese capital has no such facility and lags far behind the city of Shanghai in theatre arts. But many are upset over the design, by a French architect. It calls for something resembling a huge titanium egg, surrounded by the monolithic, very square Stalinist buildings that rim Tiananmen Square, the spiritual heart of the city.
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