When function fails to follow form

When I first moved to Beijing, weekends were spent wandering around the city and I was surprised to encounter so much architectural variety. From brutalist 70s-era housing to upscale (and not so fancy) shopping malls, to industrial sites repurposed as art zones, Beijing has a lot to take in.

Critics are quick to point out many of the capital's buildings are nondescript products of off-the-shelf design, replicating residential and commercial sites across the city to the extent that it's hard to tell some districts apart. But there are still plenty of quality designs from different eras to break up the monotony of the everyday architecture.

On my first few months in the capital, I remember stumbling upon the sight of the splendid National Center for Performing Arts, approaching via a hutong from the south and being blown away by its scale, beauty and juxtaposition with its more antiquated surroundings. No wonder it's nicknamed the "Alien Egg".