New is inspired by calligraphy in the design of the Beijing NAMOC

Paris - World-famous French architect Jean Nouvel drew inspiration from calligraphy in designing the new Chinese National Museum of Fine Arts. Nouvel mentioned this in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro, where he revealed the first details about the planned building. The structure is said to be made of stone, glass, and metal.
The future museum, which is expected to be completed in 2017, will be located near the famous Beijing Olympic Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest.
Nouvel, who received the Pritzker Prize in 2008, won the competition for the design of the NAMOC (National Art Museum of China) building in 2010, surpassing prominent figures such as Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid and American Frank Gehry.
"My inspiration was Chinese calligraphic art characterized by the poet and painter Shi Tao from the 17th century," who said that "a single stroke is the source of everything."
The two hundred meter long museum building will be "entirely made of stone, glass, and metal." It will stretch in a north-south direction from the Forbidden City towards the Olympic Stadium. Symbolically, it will "connect the collections of ancient and contemporary art."