Artistic extravaganza directors and producers typically spends lots of time searching for the perfect venues to showcase every fantastic detail of their events. Belgian theater director Franco Dragone’s latest water-based show, frequently compared to Cirque du Soleil’s O, is blessed with the gift of having eastern China’s new Wuxi Taihu Show Theatre as a permanent home.

The Designer’s Vision
Steven Chilton, leader of London’s world-renowned Steven Chilton Architects, was inspired by the Sea of Bamboo national park in nearby Yixing, the largest bamboo rainforest in China, in his design concept for the theater.

The columns are topped with an awning of leaves to complete their transformation into forest trees, running around the whole of the building at roof level. This canopy consists of an assortment of triangular bays holding rows of gold-anodized aluminum louvers. The slats are arbitrarily arranged to create a natural pattern of light and shade that dances around the building throughout the day. Each cove of louvers is also positioned at different perspectives to amplify the the illusion of their being a real-life canopy. Every bay of slats is held up by a triangular lattice configuration that supports the tops of the columns and shifts their load onto the main structure of the building. The shade canopy and columns also serve the eco-friendly purpose of casting a gentle shadow over the building that inertly lowers the structure’s cool...