Big-name Western architects have carved Beijing's skyline with their landmark designs, from the super-cool Water Cube in the Olympic Green area to the Koolhaas-labeled CCTV mansion, on the eve of the city hosting the 2008 Olympics.

Apart from these ultra-modern tattoos on the skin of the 2,500-year-old capital, a modest-looking piece of architecture standing beside the Chang'an Avenue, the Champs-Elysees of Beijing that cuts across the city from the east to the west, distinguished itself with a demeanor blending the past well with the present.

Many Chinese thought that the new building of the Capital Museum, opened to the public last year, was designed by some gifted Chinese architect, who really knows his culture and his people.

It turned out to be a Frenchman. Jean Marie Duthilleul, director of the French railway giant SNCF's urban development department, who is known as much for his genius in spatial organization as for his expertise in project management.

Born in 1952, Duthilleul became an engineer in 1975 after graduating from the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. He earned his architect's diploma in 1979. Among other projects, he is credited with works at the Gare Montparnasse and the Gare du Nord in Paris, new rail stations at Lille-Europe, Charles de Gaulle airport, EuroDisney, and the conservation of the Notre Dame.

Among the Chinese, he is known for designs of the Western Ring Plaza (Xihuan Guangchang) at the Xizhimen Metro Station in Beijing, and for the newly opened Shanghai South Railway Station.

In the long list, Duthilleul believes that every building included is unique. "I had a lot of inspiration for the Capital Museum," he said. "But I think my focus should be primarily on China's traditional culture, and secondly, on the modern ways to translate this culture."

"There is a consistency between the past and the present, and a building should be able to showcase this consistency."

The first element from the past Duthilleul chose was the grey brick used to build traditional houses in hutong areas. "It's simple and noble at the same time, and ordinary people are very familiar with it," he said.

Grey bricks were embedded into a steel framework to make the facade of the museum building. "This makes it look very light and modern," said Duthilleul.

The architect's second choice was the bronze used to decorate the museum building. "Bronze looks simple, and it is easily recognizable," he said. "Besides, cultural relics displayed at the museum can be traced back to the Bronze Age."

Duthilleul also borrowed the eaves from the hutong courtyard houses and gave them a vanguard look.

"This building should be different from all the other buildings along the Chang'an Avenue," he said. "It shows the memory of a city."

Unlike most other buildings on both sides of the avenue, the museum has a low-profile gate. But upon entering, visitors feel as if they have entered a grand square in the Forbidden City. Sunbeams stream into the high-roofed lobby from both the eastern and the southern side, creating the atmosphere of an ancient square.

Last October, Duthilleul accompanied Mrs Bernadette Chirac to visit the Capital Museum during the visit of French President Jacques Chirac to Beijing. The French First Lady praised the Capital Museum building as a perfect combination of traditional Chinese and French architectures and a masterpiece of cooperation by two ancient civilizations.

(China Daily 02/07/2007 page18)