Move over Sydney — the Harbin Opera House is a work of art

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(CNN)The mind-bending ice sculptures at Harbin’s annual winter festival may have put the northern Chinese city on the map. But this year, it’s the new Harbin Opera House that’s stealing the show.

From above, the blazing white 850,349-square-foot venue looks like an extension of the surrounding wetlands, waterways, and snowy terrain.

Inside, the bold and beautiful Harbin Opera House achieves zen aesthetics with contemporary white walls, atmospheric skylights and tons of timber.

Ma Yansong, founding principal of the Beijing-based MAD architectural firm which designed the structure, hopes the venue will inspire a more natural approach to architecture in heavily populated cities. Harbin is home to 3.4 million people.

“There’s an emotional aspect of architecture and urban space that’s lacking in modern architecture and urban planning,” says Ma.

Setting the scene

The Harbin Opera House is the centerpiece of Harbin’s Cultural Island — a new arts hub by the Songhua River, which will include the Harbin Labor Recreation Center and Harbin Great Square.

“I want to make the building blend into the horizon so it feels like part of the land,” says Ma. “I took this pattern of the water flowing from the river banks, and I turned it into modern architecture.”

While modern landmark buildings in Chinese cities are often be towering and imposing, MAD wanted its snow-white structure to have a soothing aesthetic.

“As buildings get taller and cities denser, designers need to instill a sense of community and nature in their architecture.”

“Humans feel so lost in these large-scale structures.”

When planning cities, Ma thinks it’s time to start talking about the emotional connection between humans and nature.

“Typical modern urban developments look the same everywhere. They’re huge scale, they don’t have enough public space,” says Ma. “They’re not designed for community.

“(I think we should) bring in some beautiful scenery, so people can always look in one direction and imagine something beyond the modern high-density urban context.”

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