Publishing photos revealing a smart icon that embodies the creativity of Taipei City,
OMA has released new images of the New Taipei Center for the Performing Arts,
which will open in summer 2022.
The center is touted as Asia’s most significant cultural development in 2022,
with the massive 59,000 square meter complex nearing completion.
The building is marked by three stages raised from the central cube:
- Multiform theater
- Big theater
- Globe Playhouse
The ballroom, shaped like a ball, floats above the front façade of the building.
Publishing photos revealing a smart icon that embodies the creativity of Taipei City
Designed to be a stunning new landmark for Taiwan, the Arts Center will become the center of the island’s vibrant contemporary culture.
The project has been under construction since 2014 commissioned by the Taipei city government to promote the development of the arts,
and a set of new images of the project were revealed in 2019.
The design is led by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas and OMA Managing Partner David Giannotten,
in association with local architecture firm KRIS YAO | ARTECH and engineering company Arup.
The complex is perched above the bustle of Taipei’s famous Shilin Night Market,
known for its vibrant street life and cosmopolitan dining destination.
The futuristic design presented by OMA reflects the standard model for contemporary theaters and embraces inclusivity,
reflecting the vitality and openness of the minds of Taipei and its people.
The Taipei Center for the Performing Arts consists of three theaters connected by a raised central cube that invites city street life into the site.
Publishing photos revealing a smart icon that embodies the creativity of Taipei City
The 800-seat Globe Playhouse is like a planet clinging to a cube,
while the Grand Theater is a 1,500-seat space for a variety of performing arts genres.
On the other hand, on the same level, in the multi-format theatre, which has a capacity of 800 seats,
there are also most of the experimental performances.
The two theaters become superb when combined,
with a capacity of 2,300, a huge factory-quality space.
Also equipped with facilities to meet the most challenging pyrotechnic requirements of contemporary theatre,
the spaces have been specifically designed to offer new theatrical opportunities.
Formed with a strong technical core and the most emotional theaters glued against it in interdependence,
the Taipei Center for the Performing Arts embodies a new theater organization,
serving as a new and intelligent icon that embodies the city’s creativity.
Publishing photos revealing a smart icon that embodies the creativity of Taipei City
The Taipei Center for the Performing Arts creates new interiors for performance spaces,
with three theaters connected by a central cube and a public ring, inspiring unimaginable theatrical possibilities.
The general public, whether they hold a ticket or not, is invited to the center through a public loop that passes through theater infrastructure
and production spaces that are usually hidden from view.
Entrance windows along the loop also allow visitors to view the performances and art spaces between the theaters.
The Taipei Center for the Performing Arts will become the new home of Taiwan’s many performing arts groups embracing cutting-edge theatre,
contemporary dance, musical theatre, traditional opera and puppet theatre, and children’s theater,
as well as a laboratory for intersecting and new artistic experiences.
OMA looks forward to welcoming audiences as well as artists from all over the world to work with Taiwanese artists
to create new works that respond to the most pressing issues facing the times.
They hope that through this international cooperation, Taiwan will learn from the world,
as the world will gain a greater understanding of Taiwan’s history, culture and people.”
The opening of the Taipei Center for the Performing Arts is a milestone in Taipei’s becoming an international center for the cultural arts.
And what started as an idea in 1997 and became a visual concept designed by OMA in 2007,
is now an exciting 2022 reality for all audiences.
The mission of the design was to become the creative center of contemporary Taiwan life,
where diverse talents and perspectives across generations could mingle and flourish.
Publishing photos revealing a smart icon that embodies the creativity of Taipei City
The Taipei Center for the Performing Arts is architecture in limbo,
specific but flexible, undisrupted but generic, creative without being conceived as such.
The building will have opaque facades, and these theaters will appear
as mysterious elements against a moving and luminous central cube clad in corrugated glass.
There is also a landscaped plaza below the compact stage which is another stage
where the audience gathers in this dense and vibrant part of Taipei.
