The architecture in Pudong International Airport and Oriental Art Center in construction are "safe and scientifically reasonable", local architects said today in the wake of the collapse in Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris which in designed by the same French architect Paul Andreu.

The passenger terminal in Charles de Gaulle Airport caved in on Sunday, killing at least five people, including two Chinese. Witness said tons of concrete, steel and glass from the roof fell on to a waiting area in the terminal and pulled the outer walls down.

Designer of the airport was designed by French architecture designer Paul Andreu, who also sketched out the Pudong Airport and Oriental Art Center in Shanghai, along with the National Theatre in Beijing. All these building feature grand roofs.

Yet "The construction structure and technique used in Charles de Gaulle Aiport in completely different from that in Pudong Airport, " said Zhang Fuling, the chief engineer in charge of the construction technique designer in the Puodng Airport.

The roof of the terminal in Charles de Gaulle airport was built with concrete, while the roof and outer walls in Pudong Airport were a steel structure, which is lighter, Zhang said.

All the technique and construction part is done by Chinese part instead of the artistic designers, he added.

(Shanghai Daily May 26, 2004)