OMA's Taipei Performing Arts Center Set to Debut in Summer 2022

The Taipei Performing Arts Centre is set to become Asia's most important cultural development in 2022, serving as a new landmark of Taiwan's capital city. This monumental 59,000-square-metre complex, designed by OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture, led by Pritzker-Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten, in collaboration with local architecture firm KRIS YAO | ARTECH and engineering company ARUP, aims to foster the development of the arts and offer new theatrical possibilities for artists, audiences, and the public.

The Centre comprises three theatres plugged into a lifted central cube that invites the city's street life on site. The spherical 800-seat proscenium theatre, Globe Playhouse, resembles a planet docking against the cube. Opposite to it and on the same level is the 800-seat multiform theatre, Blue Box, for the most experimental performances. The Grand Theater is a 1500-seat space for a wide variety of performing arts genres. When coupled, the two theatres become the 2,300-seat Super Theater, a massive space with factory quality. Equipped with facilities to meet the most challenging pyrotechnical demands of contemporary theatre, the spaces have been specially designed to offer new theatrical opportunities.

What is unique about the Taipei Performing Arts Centre is its futuristic design that shatters the standardised model of contemporary theatres and embraces inclusivity. The Centre reflects the liveliness and open-mindedness of Taipei and its people, inviting the general public, with or without a ticket, into the Centre through a public loop that runs through the theatre's infrastructure and production spaces typically hidden from view. Portal windows along the loop allow visitors to peer into performances and technical spaces between the theatres.

The Centre will become the new headquarters for Taiwan's numerous performing arts groups, embracing cutting-edge theatre, contemporary dance, musical theatre, traditional opera and puppet theatre, and children's theatre, as well as serving as a laboratory for cross-art-form experimentations and new creations. The Centre's design creates new internal workings of performing spaces, inspiring unimagined theatrical possibilities, and offering a new kind of theatre for artists, audiences, and the public to explore the creative life in novel ways.

David Gianotten, OMA Managing Partner – Architect, said, "Taipei Performing Arts Centre creates new internal workings of performing spaces, inspiring unimagined theatrical possibilities. This is a new kind of theatre for artists, audiences, and the public to explore the creative life in novel ways." Rem Koolhaas, OMA Founding Partner, added, "Taipei Performing Arts Centre embodies a new organization for theatre and works as a fresh, intelligent icon that encapsulates the city's creativity."

The Taipei Performing Arts Centre is an exciting development for the performing arts community in Taipei and beyond, offering new possibilities for the creation and experience of theatre. With its inclusive design and commitment to fostering creativity and experimentation, the Centre is set to become a cultural hub for the region, serving as a symbol of Taiwan's vibrant contemporary culture.

The Centre's design team, led by OMA, has succeeded in creating a monumental complex that is both functional and visually stunning, reflecting the city's dynamic character and creative energy. The Centre's unique design sets it apart from other theatres around the world, offering a new model for theatre that is inclusive, inspiring, and innovative.

Overall, the Taipei Performing Arts Centre is an exciting development for Taiwan's cultural landscape, offering a new kind of theatre that invites audiences and the public to explore creative life in novel ways. With its unique design and commitment to inclusivity and experimentation, the Centre is set to become a new landmark of Taipei and a cultural hub for the region, serving as a symbol of Taiwan's vibrant contemporary culture.

 

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Photos ©OMA by Chris Stowers