Today the "Bilbao Effect" -- engaging star architects to drive economic development through new cultural institutions-- continues as a demonstration that a city has "arrived." Particularly through an explosion of international cultural institutions and public buildings in emerging countries, such as Zaha Hadid's new opera house in Guangzhou. A handful of architects, including Frank Gehry, Richard Meier and Rem Koolhaas, have become the cathedral builders of our time, employing a similar built esthetic across the globe, from the United States to China and the Middle East.

What has been gained and what has been lost by the explosion of international cultural institutions like Zaha Hadid's new opera house in Guangzhou? What is the role of emerging architects in this type of architecture?