Location: Shanghai, China.

Architect: Tadao Ando.

The Shanghai Poly Grand Theater is an impressive glass and concrete rectilinear structure with circular cuts and recesses that are accessible to the public and exposed to the air, similar to holes in a block of Swiss cheese. The building was created by Pritzker-winning architect Tadao Ando and is placed right by Yuanxiang Lake in Jiading, a suburban area in northwest Shanghai. It is made of a concrete block enclosed within a glass and aluminium facade, which, with the “holes,” gives the structure a hint of lightness. There are five tunnel-like entrances, which are panelled with aluminium painted in tones of natural wood and have the shapes of semi-circles or two overlapping ones. The cutouts, which resemble an amphitheatre and have steps leading inside the building or up to the rooftop, give the otherwise simple building some energy and whimsy.