Shanghai's new opera house lets anyone climb its roof — ticket or no ticket

Most opera houses are fortresses with a box office. Shanghai's Grand Opera House, opened this month on the banks of the Huangpu River, was designed by Norwegian firm Snøhetta to be the opposite: a civic building first. Its signature is an enormous spiral staircase on the outside of the building, shaped like an unfurling Chinese fan, that anyone — ticket-holder or passer-by — can climb from the riverside walk to a rooftop observation platform overlooking the skyline. Inside the 1.6 million-square-foot building sit three auditoriums holding 4,200 people in total, for everything from traditional opera to experimental work. The commission was awarded a decade ago; the idea that endured was removing thresholds — the stairs, doors and prices that keep ordinary people outside beautiful buildings. Here, the best view in the house is free, and it's on the roof.

SDG 11 · Sustainable cities and communities — Mechanism: infrastructure build