Taipei Performing Arts Center designed by OMA has opened to the public. The project jointly led by Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten is located at Taipei’s Shilin Night Market. The contemporary performance theatre generated debates among architects when it was first announced in 2009 due to its unusual shape. Morphed by a series of programmatic operations, the form intersects three types of theater in order to accommodate a variety of performances. Now this place for cultural creatives is open, allowing the public to explore new possibilities in performing arts and experience different aspects of the theater.
When we first visited Taipei for the competition, we felt it was a city with an appetite for experimentation. This building is a response to that discovery. We put three traditional theatres together in a way that offers theatre makers completely new opportunities to conceive spectacles and performances. We are proud to be part of the effort to realize the performing arts center, which became possible only with the knowledge, creativity, and perseverance of city, collaborators, and architects. - Rem Koolhaas, OMA Founding Partner
The compact building is composed of a spherical 800-seat Globe Playhouse, a 1,500-seat Grand Theater, and an 800-seat Blue Box plugged into a central cube. The cube accommodates the stages, backstage, and support spaces of the three theaters, allowing the Grand Theater and the Blue Box to be coupled to form a Super Theater, a massive space for unsuspected performances. The auditoria of the theaters have opaque facades, which create a contrast with the illuminated central cube clad in corrugated glass.
It is extremely rewarding to see cultural creatives, audiences and visitors using the building both as we envisioned and in unexpected ways. The theatre culture and the vibrant street culture coexist in this public building and around the site. For us, this mix of cultures aptly captures the energy of Taipei, a city always open to changes.- David Gianotten, OMA Managing Partner
The project is led by Rem Koolhaas, David Gianotten, and Project Director Chiaju Lin, with Taiwanese design collaborator KRIS YAO | ARTECH. Design consultants include Inside Outside, Arup, dUCKS Scéno, and Royal HaskoningDHV.
