Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)

Location: Next to Jiantan MRT Station
Shilin District, Taipei
Budget: NT$6 billion (US$208 million)

Construction Dates:
- Start: 2012
- Completion: 2014
- Test-run: 2015

The Taipei Performing Arts Center will be located near Jiantan MRT Station at the current Shilin Night Market temporary structure (the night market structure will be demolished). The 40,000-m2 center will have a 1500-seat large theater and two 800-seat medium theaters. The final design by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) was chosen in 2009. The design will allow for all three theaters to be used independently or all at once, depending on the size of the performance. It is slated to start construction at the end of 2011 and be completed by 2015.

Sources: http://www.dezeen.com/2009/01/28/taipei-performing-arts-centre-by-oma/
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2011/new/jun/18/today-taipei5-2.htm

http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/01/taipei-performing-arts-centre-by-oma-squ-22-taipei-parthesius70.jpg
http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/01/taipei-performing-arts-centre-by-oma-taipei-parthesius700_2921.jpg
http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/01/taipei-performing-arts-centre-by-oma-090115parthesius-2535.jpg
http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/01/taipei-performing-arts-centre-by-oma-squ-090115parthesius-2524.jpg
http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/01/taipei-performing-arts-centre-by-oma-taipei-ai-screen3.jpg
http://img.tdesign.tw/09/03/14/TAIPEI%20PERFORMING%20ARTS%20CENTRE4.jpg
http://img.tdesign.tw/09/03/14/TAIPEI%20PERFORMING%20ARTS%20CENTRE7.jpg
http://img.tdesign.tw/09/03/14/TAIPEI%20PERFORMING%20ARTS%20CENTRE8.jpg
http://img.tdesign.tw/09/03/14/TAIPEI%20PERFORMING%20ARTS%20CENTRE9.jpg
http://img.tdesign.tw/09/03/14/TAIPEI%20PERFORMING%20ARTS%20CENTRE10.jpg
http://img.tdesign.tw/09/03/14/TAIPEI%20PERFORMING%20ARTS%20CENTRE14.jpg
http://img.tdesign.tw/09/03/14/TAIPEI%20PERFORMING%20ARTS%20CENTRE15.jpg

Is it just me or does contemporary modern architecture all try too hard? This bulb looks like extra fat that leaked outta a container, and is being held propped up by some temporary makeshift sticks.

A truly excellent, high quality design! I am highly looking forward to this building's completion!

well here below is an explanation of their design concept, which after reading it allowed me to understand the design much better.

http://www.oma.eu/index.php?option=com_projects&view=project&id=1122&Itemid=10

Why have the most exciting theatrical events of the past 100 years taken place outside the spaces formally designed for them? Can architecture transcend its own dirty secret, the inevitability of imposing limits on what is possible?

In recent years, the world has seen a proliferation of performance centres that, according to a mysterious consensus, consist of more or less an identical combination: a 2,000-seat auditorium, a 1,500-seat theatre, and a black box. Overtly iconic external forms disguise conservative internal workings based on 19th century practice (and symbolism: balconies as evidence of social stratification). Although the essential elements of theatre– stage, proscenium, and auditorium– are more than 3,000 years old, there is no excuse for contemporary stagnation. TPAC takes the opposite approach: experimentation in the internal workings of the theatre, producing (without being conceived as such) the external presence of an icon.

TPAC consists of three theatres, each of which can function autonomously. The theatres plug into a central cube, which consolidates the stages, backstages and support spaces into a single and efficient whole. This arrangement allows the stages to be modified or merged for unsuspected scenarios and uses. The design offers the advantages of specificity with the freedoms of the undefined.

Performance centres typically have a front and a back side. Through its compactness, TPAC has many different “faces,” defined by the individual auditoria that protrude outward and float above this dense and vibrant part of the city. The auditoria read like mysterious, dark elements against the illuminated, animated cube that is clad in corrugated glass. The cube is lifted from the ground and the street extends into the building, gradually separating into different theatres.

The Proscenium Playhouse resembles a suspended planet docking with the cube. The audience circulates between an inner and outer shell to access the auditorium. Inside the auditorium, the intersection of the inner shell and the cube forms a unique proscenium that creates any frame imaginable.

The Grand Theatre is a contemporary evolution of the large theatre spaces of the 20th century. Resisting the standard shoebox, its shape is slightly asymmetrical. The stage level, parterre, and balcony are unified into a folded plane. Opposite the Grand Theatre on the same level, the Multiform Theatre is a flexible space to accommodate the most experimental performances.

The Super Theatre is a massive, factory-like environment formed by coupling the Grand Theatre and Multiform Theatre. It can accommodate the previously impossible ambitions of productions like B.A. Zimmermann’s opera Die Soldaten (1958), which demands a 100-metre-long stage. Existing conventional works can be re-imagined on a monumental scale, and new, unimagined forms of theatre will flourish in the Super Theatre.

The general public—even those without a theatre ticket—are also encouraged to enter TPAC. The Public Loop is trajectory through the theatre infrastructure and spaces of production, typically hidden, but equally impressive and choreographed as the “visible” performance. The Public Loop not only enables the audience to experience theatre production more fully, but also allows Theatre to engage a broader Public.




although the concept is well thought out, i still think the execution could be better. visually it's not a beautiful structure as most of us agree. but from their explanation i guess they didnt want to create a typical beautiful performance center and chose to emphasize "function over form". maybe part of it is because that neighborhood in taipei is not a beautiful environment where much of the local architecture doesnt make sense. so to create a conventionally beautiful building in a rough urban environment like that would be out of place. if you look at the rendering of the building sitting in the environment, it actually looks like it fits in and looks pretty good! it's definitely an improvement to the surrounding architecture.

http://www.oma.eu//images/photocache/stories/Taipei_PerformingArtsCentre/110113_tpac-birdseye-new-landscape_forwebsite_560x374x90.jpg


more pics:

http://www.oma.eu/index.php?option=com_projects&view=portal&id=1122&Itemid=10

http://www.oma.eu//images/photocache/stories/News/img_1756_72_560x374x90.jpg

http://www.oma.eu//images/photocache/stories/Taipei_PerformingArtsCentre/0_overall%20west_img_7698_forwebsite_560x374x90.jpg

http://www.oma.eu//images/photocache/stories/Taipei_PerformingArtsCentre/0_overall-west_img_7881_forwebsite_560x374x90.jpg

http://www.oma.eu//images/photocache/stories/Taipei_PerformingArtsCentre/110527_gt-perspective-1_forwebsite_560x374x90.jpg

http://www.oma.eu//images/photocache/stories/Taipei_PerformingArtsCentre/pp-balcony-4000-x-3000_forwebsite_560x374x90.jpg

http://www.oma.eu//images/photocache/stories/Taipei_PerformingArtsCentre/pp-stage-4000-x-3000_forwebsite_560x374x90.jpg

rem koolhaas' design for seattle public library is one of my favorites. i visited in person and it's just beautiful especially for a library!! it looks like an airport terminal. all glass and super sleek inside. thats why i'm surprised they came up with that design for taipei performance center. i can see the main cube structure having their imprint on it, but that big sphere and side box awkwardly sticking out seems really unlike them. but then i'm only familiar with their recent work and not all of it throughout their history. i can see this design being the tpac and sitting in that neighborhood. the design is a bit chaotic with all the different geometric shapes cutting into each other at different angles thus fittingly compliments the chaotic nature of taiwan's cities. and yet the design of the pattered glass wall makes it so elegant.

http://pirateships.pbworks.com/f/1207986387/seattle.library.koolhaas.C.jpg

http://plusmood.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/seattle-public-library.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2134/2468543775_0ef606bfd9.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EsOdKpzj0B8/SxIAudsjqII/AAAAAAAABFM/eRTc5hss6Co/s400/Rem-Koolhaas-OMA-seattle-public-library.jpg

http://www.floornature.com/media/photos/30/4625/wr473_4_popup.jpg

More photos:

http://www.culture.tw/images/pubimg/news/2011_09/091701.jpg

http://www.culture.tw/images/pubimg/news/2011_09/091702.jpg

Source: http://www.culture.tw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2120&Itemid=235

Looks fantastic :)

Looks fantastic :)

guess ur the only one who likes it, dude. :)

I think if they use quality construction materials instead of plain-looking cheapos the whole thing actually might look quite futuristic (i like the silver, metallic tone for the model exterior). Let's hope the result looks better than we now think!

guess ur the only one who likes it, dude. :)

Hehe

The presence of this project might persuade Shilin Night Market to modernize and improve a bit.

Though I dunno how it will happen.....because it's always full (especially those lining up to eat Taiwanese pork chop meal :lol:)

yeah.. not the best design hey.. it will look worse without that ball though

I think it will look better without the ball.it's the ball that is the distraction for me. It doesn't cohesively meld with the rest of the structure. maybe its supposed to be a taiwanese tea egg or a mochi? :lol:

This building has been discussed age ago. The building construction will start after the nigh market is relocated which will be end of this year.

Work begins on Koolhaas arts center in Shihlin area

http://taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/02/17/2003525697

The exterior of the building was described as looking like “tofu with preserved egg” when Koolhaas’ team unveiled the design in 2009.


i'm not sure that it's a good thing if a building looks like a 皮蛋 :/

Work begins on Koolhaas arts center in Shihlin area

http://taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/02/17/2003525697




i'm not sure that it's a good thing if a building looks like a 皮蛋 :/

Fitting that it's located next to a night market. :lol:

I think it will look good once finished.

I think it will look good (not bad). Hopefully during my next visit in 3 years time. I will see it done and dusted.

What happens when an eathquake strucks? Will these tiny pillars hold up the seating area when it is full. Both the weight and altitude of the sphere can make this thing sway violently in an earthquake.

What happens when an eathquake strucks? Will these tiny pillars hold up the seating area when it is full. Both the weight and altitude of the sphere can make this thing sway violently in an earthquake.

That would depend on the building codes of Taiwan (I think the last changes were made after the 921 earthquake).

Ask someone to check on those because there isn't much info regarding that.....

Site photos from taiwan-city:

The location of the former food court of Shilin Night Market:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7187/6920404219_6f32526729_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/6774288918_ed6042968f_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7057/6774289362_49a80a370f_b.jpg

any update of this nice project?

i think they're still in the early planning stages, clearing the land, getting ready for construction. just taking a guess as that's the usual process. wish one of you who live in taipei can drop by and take photos and post them here. that would be super sweet and nice! just a suggestion now. no pressure. just a thoughtful thing to do!! just saying!! :|