Paul Andreu, architect of Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, whose terminal 2E partially collapse on May 23, was involved in a judicial probe concerning the construction of China' National Grand Theater, said the French daily Le Monde.  

The probe was launched in France last July over a suspicious misappropriation of funds in a "abuse of trust" involving Paris airport authority (ADP), to which the construction of the Grand Theater was attributed.

The probe is still underway and led by Anne-Elisabeth Honorat, a magistrate from the Paris tribunal's financial branch. She is trying to determine in which conditions the construction contract is attributed in 1999 and whether Andreu had received unjustified payments from the ADP.

Andreu worked for the ADP until November 30, 2002, in order to better concentrate himself in the construction of the Oriental Art Center in Shanghai and especially the National Grand Theater in Beijing near Tian'anmen Square.

The construction contract was signed between the Chinese government and ADP and Andreu, "collectively called designer," with ADP nominated as legal representative of the "designer."

The theater, whose construction started in 1999, has aroused many divergences on its incoherent form with its environments and the Chinese culture, and was then suspended for 18 months after a rare controversy in China on the project. Some others appreciate however its modern and outstanding design.

The initial budget for the Theater cost 2.7 billion yuan (US$324 million). The final cost would be about 3 billion yuan, according to Andreu himself.

France's judicial authority received last year an anonymous letter charging that Andreu had been paid twice for the Beijing contract, first as an ADP employee and second as architect of his private company.

Similar anonymous letter was sent to France's judicial authorities after the Charles de Gaulle airport roof collapse, said the newspaper.

Andreu, 65, an internationally-renowned architect, has designed more than 50 airports including all the terminals of Charles de Gaulle. His works brought him the nickname "architect of airports."

Part of a roof of Terminal 2E of Paris biggest Roissy-Charles de Gaulle international airport collapsed at around 7 am (0500 GMT) on May 23, killing four people, including two Chinese, and injuring three passengers.

Terminal 2E, which went into operation less than a year ago after at least two construction delays, is used by the country's flag carrier Air France and other international carriers.

Andreu said Friday at French television France 2 that he had no idea why its roof collapsed. "There must have been something we didn't do right somewhere or something we didn't think of or something that happened that we couldn't foresee."

Two investigations, one judicial and one administrative, have started to determine whether the design, calculations, the construction or even the ground upon which it was built were at fault. The cause of the collapse is still under investigation. Pierre Graff, head of the ADP, ruled out "a single cause."

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2004)