A Canadian architecture firm has won the commission to design the Mariinsky Theatre’s opera house. “Diamond + Schmitt prevailed over four other finalists – one from Germany and three Russian firms – to win the Mariinsky which, with a budget of €295-million (about $452-million, all of which will be paid by the Russian government) and a completion date of no later than December 2011, has been hyped as ‘Russia’s most important building project in 70 years’….”