Taipei Performing Arts Center – Different From Other Contemporary Structures

Commissioned by the Taipei City Government (Taipei City is the capital of Taiwan)

in 2009, and after more than a decade of construction, the 635,000 sq ft Taipei Performing Arts Center (an instantaneous cultural landmark which is home to three protruding auditoriums) has been completed. It is officially slated to open in August. The 2000 Pritzker Architecture Prize-winner Rem Koolhaas led the design team alongside OMA managing partner David Gianotten.  They wanted the building to stand out from contemporary theaters being built in major cities around the world—and it appears that they succeeded. (As of 2019, the city of Taipei is home to an estimated population of 2,646,204.)

The most prominent of the theaters is the 800-seat Globe Playhouse (the sphere which is supported externally on two columns). The other two theaters—the 1,500-seat Grand Theater and the 800-seat Blue Box theater—project from opposite sides of the building on the same level of the arts center so that they can be combined into one venue referred to as a “Super Theater”.