A Futuristic Theatre Design by OMA

The project designed by OMA is a new cultural landmark creating new possibilities in performing arts.

An ancient art form for civic participation, theatre has evolved into the modern world as a vocation of the culturally refined, with its significance in daily life diminished. Theatre space is valued for its potency for formal cultural productions, rather than its power to include and divert, and to be instantaneous.

Contemporary performance theatres increasingly become standardized: a combination of two different sized auditoria and a black box, with conservative internal operation principles for authentic work. Can a public theatre still be inclusive, accommodating
the classic and the serendipitous, the highbrow and the masses, the artistic and the social—a place for the creative life of all?

Located at Taipei’s Shilin Night Market marked by its vibrant street culture, the performing arts centre is architecture in limbo: specific yet flexible, undisrupted yet public, iconic without being conceived as such. Three theatres plugged into a central cube allow performing spaces to be coupled for new theatrical possibilities. The cube is lifted off the ground for a public loop to extend the street life of Taipei into the theatre. New internal possibilities and connections of the theatre generate different relationships between producers, spectators and the public, also a critical mass that works as a fresh, intelligent icon.

The central cube consolidates the stages, back stages, support spaces of the three theatres, and the public spaces for spectators into a single and efficient whole. Due to the theatre design, it 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 theatre 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. When coupled, the two theatres become the Super Theater—a massive space with factory quality that can accommodate productions that are otherwise only possible in found spaces. New possibilities of theatre configurations and stage settings inspire productions in unimagined and spontaneous forms.

The general public—with or without a ticket—is invited into the theatre through a public loop, which runs through the theatre’s infrastructure and spaces of production that are typically hidden. Portal windows along the public loop allow visitors to look at the performances inside and technical spaces in between the theatres. Different than typical performance centres that have a front and a back side, the project has multiple faces defined by the theatres protruding above ground. With opaque facades, these theatres appear as mysterious elements against the animated and illuminated central cube clad in corrugated glass. A landscaped plaza beneath the compact theatre is an additional stage for the public to gather, in this dense and vibrant part of Taipei.

Factfile

Project: Taipei Performing Arts Center, Taipei

Architects: OMA

Client: Taipei City Government (Authority-in-Charge); Department of Cultural Affairs, Department of Rapid Transit Systems (First District Project Office), Public Works Department (New Construction Office) (Executive Departments)

Program: Theater. Total 58,658 m². One 1500-seat theatre and two 800-seat theatres

Budget Estimated: 6 billion Taiwan Dollars (around €180 million)

Partners-in-Charge: Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten

Construction Phase (2012–2021)

Project Director: Chiaju Lin

Associates: Paolo Caracini, Inge Goudsmit, Daan Ooievaar

Team: Vincent Kersten, Han Kuo, Kevin Mak, Chang-An Liao,
with Yannis Chan, Hin-Yeung Cheung, Meng-Fu Kuo,
Nien Lee, Nicole Tsai

Design Development Phase (2009–2013)

Project Architects: Ibrahim Elhayawam, Adam Frampton

Team: Yannis Chan, Hin-Yeung Cheung, Jim Dodson, Inge Goudsmit, Alasdair Graham, Vincent Kersten, Chiaju Lin, Vivien Liu, Kai Sun Luk, Kevin Mak, Slobodan Radoman, Roberto Requejo, Saul Smeding, Elaine Tsui, Viviano Villarreal-Buerón, Casey Wang, Leonie Wenz

Competition Phase (2008–2009)

Partners-in-Charge: Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten, in collaboration with Ole Scheeren

Project Architects: Adam Frampton, Mariano Sagasta Garcia, André Schmidt

Team: Erik Amir, Joshua Beck, David Brown, Jean-Baptiste Bruderer, Andrew Bryant, Sean Hoo Ch’ng, Steven Yingnien Chen, Dan Cheong, Ryan Choe, Antoine Decourt, Mitesh Dixit, Pingchuan Fu, Miguel Huelga de la Fuente, Alexander Giarlis, Richard Hollington, Takuya Hosokai, Shabnam Hosseini,
Nicola Knop, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Chiaju Lin, Sandra Mayritsch, Vincent McIlduff, Alexander Menke, Gabriele Pitacco, Shiyun Qian, Joseph Tang, Agustín Pérez Torres, Xinyuan Wang, Ali Yildirim, Patrizia Zobernig

Collaborators

Executive Architect: KRIS YAO | ARTECH (Architect: Kris Yao; Project Principals: Willy Yu, Grace Lin)

Theater Consultant: dUCKS Scéno, Creative Solution Integration Ltd.

Acoustic Consultant: Royal HaskoningDHV and Theo Raijmakers (Level Acoustics & Vibration), SM&W

Landscape Designer, Interior Designer: Inside Outside

Structure, MEP, Building Physics, Fire Engineer: Arup

Structural Engineer: Evergreen Consulting Engineering Inc.

Services Engineer: Heng Kai Inc., IS Leng and Associates Engineers

Fire Engineer: Taiwan Fire Safety Consulting Ltd.

Lighting Consultant: Chroma 33

Façade Engineer: ABT, CDC Inc.

Sustainability Consultant: Segreene Design and Consulting

Landscape Consultant: CNHW

Geotechnical Engineer: Sino Geotech

Traffic Consultant: Everest Engineering Consultants Inc.

Animation: Artefactory

Model: RJ Models, Vincent de Rijk

Model Photography: Iwan Baan, Jeffrey Cheng, Frans Parthesius

Site Photography: Chris Stowers, Shephotoerd Co. Photography

Main Construction Contractor: International Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd (former general contractor), Sun-Sea Construction Co. Ltd. (façade continuous construction), Ancang Construction Co. Ltd. (interior & landscape continuous construction), Jung Yan Interior Design & Decoration Co., Ltd., Tech-Top Engineering Co., Ltd. (MEP, fire engineer), Shiu Guan Machine Electric Engineering Co. Ltd. (air-conditioning),
Jardine Schindler Lifts Limited (elevator facilities)

Theater Equipment Contractor: L&K Engineering Co. Ltd.,
IX Technology Ltd., JR Clancy, Inc.