Chinese Name: 臺北表演藝術中心
Address: No. 1, Jiantan Rd., Shilin Dist., Taipei City
Established: 2012
Official Website: https://tpac.org.taipei/en
Did You Know That…?
The Taipei Performing Arts Center, a landmark for art events in Taiwan’s capital city, was selected as one of the “transformative buildings set to shape the world in 2021” by CNN Style, a website that mainly covers design and architecture.
Located in Shilin District (士林區) of Taipei City, the Taipei Performing Arts Center is a dedicated performing arts and cultural facility, which has geometrical shapes with a total space area of 50,000 m2. The building was designed by David Gianotten and Rem Koolhaas from the international architectural firm, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), in collaboration with ARTECH, headed by architect Kris Yao (姚仁喜). Its construction began in 2012, and the center officially opened in July of 2022.
The Taipei Performing Arts Center is an avant-garde building with 12 floors above ground and one below. According to OMA, “the central cube consolidates the stages, back stages, support spaces of the three theaters, and the public spaces for spectators into a single and efficient whole. The theaters can be modified or merged for unsuspected scenarios and uses. The spherical 800-seat Globe Playhouse, with an inner and an outer shell, resembles a planet docking against the cube. Intersection between the inner shell and the cube forms a unique proscenium for experimentation with stage framing. Between the two layers of shells is the circulation space that brings visitors to the auditorium. The Grand Theater, slightly asymmetrical in shape and defying the standard shoebox design, is a 1500-seat theater space for different performing arts genres. Opposite to it and on the same level is the 800-seat Blue Box for the most experimental performances.” The three theatrical spaces often operate independently. However, if large-scale performances are required, the Grand Theater and the Blue Box can be connected to form the Super Theater, a massive space that can accommodate approximately 2,000 seats.
The Globe Playhouse resembles a suspended planet docked on a square structure, with three floors of private rooms on the outermost periphery of the sphere. Every seat in the venue has an equidistant view of the stage without blind spots. It is an ideal setting for stage dramas, dance, music, and puppet shows. The design took inspiration from Shakespeare’s “Globe Theatre.”
The exterior of the sphere theater is made of curved aluminum plates that are welded and polished to reduce glare during the day, while maintaining a metallic texture at night to reflect the surrounding ambient light. The texture of each curved surface is slightly different, leaving traces of the craftsmen’s handiwork.
The asymmetrical Grand Theater can host musicals, traditional Chinese operas, ballets, and special events. Transparent windows are behind the auditorium. During the day, performers can open the curtains when they are performing to allow sunlight to penetrate through.
With the removable auditorium seating system, the Blue Box, also known as the black box theater—typically a square room with black walls and a flat floor, is the largest experimental theater in the country. It allows a variety of configurations of stage and audience interaction.
The curtain wall of the building is composed of corrugated glass, with which OMA’s design breaks the previous isolation between visitors and the outside world after entering the theater. The corrugated glass serves as a wall structure but, at the same time, blurs the boundary between the inside and outside of the theater, making the images through the curved glass distorted like a dream with light and shadow.
Costing NT$200,000, a piece of corrugated glass is made from German raw materials with Spanish technology. It then goes to China’s Dongguan for weather testing before being sent to Taiwan for installation. There are a total of 1,180 pieces of the corrugated glass in the entire arts center. Each piece is 5 meters high and weighs more than 300 kilograms. The connection between the curved glass and the sphere theater is the most difficult part of the construction process, as it was completed after repeated testing and splicing. The corrugated glass structure is the architectural highlight of the venue.