Many countries have put substantial investment into constructing large and iconic cultural buildings because they are the emblems of civic pride, as well as tools to generalize cultural and economic benefits. However, stories of project failures are often heard in this rapid cultural building boom. In fact, many pitfalls in developing large cultural building projects (CBPs) are associated to the stakeholders since they are the actual central figures of a project. As such, addressing stakeholder complexity and understanding major pitfalls in CBPs from stakeholder perspective are crucial to the successful management of these projects, yet relevant empirical studies remain lacking. To fill this gap, case study of a large performing arts center was conducted. A holistic stakeholder analysis approach, which applies both rationalistic methods (e.g. social network analysis) and empirical methods (e.g. survey and interviews), was adopted to address stakeholder complexity in the case. Three major pitfalls in large CBPs were identified, including 'developing accurate end users' requirements', 'balancing between aesthetics, functionality and resources', and 'leadership team makeup, vision, charisma and learning stance'. Their underlying causes and possible solutions were discussed. This study contributes theoretically by illustrating a holistic approach of analyzing and addressing stakeholder complexity, and provides practical value by understanding the pitfalls of CBPs from stakeholder perspective. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. APM and IPMA. All rights reserved.