mecanoo shares new images of the national kaohsiung centre for the arts in taiwan

in 2018, the national kaohsiung centre for the arts — an enormous performing arts center — opened in taiwan. the completion of the project, which was designed by mecanoo, symbolized the transformation of kaohsiung, once a major international harbor, into a modern, diverse city with a range of cultural offerings. inspired by the open, protective shape of the banyan tree, the building has a sheltered outdoor plaza at ground level that channels winds to cool occupants with the subtropical climate in mind. now, mecanoo has shared new images of the project, which is currently open to the public with pandemic protocols in place.

image by andrés gallardo albajar (main image by ethan lee)

designed by dutch firm mecanoo, the undulating structure incorporates a 2,236-seat opera house, a 1,981-seat concert hall, a 1,210-seat playhouse, a 434-seat recital hall, and an outdoor theater. the project is sited within a 116-acre park that was formerly a military training base in kaohsiung — an international port city in southern taiwan with a population of 3 million. in total, seven hectares of landscape, balanced between hard and soft landscaping, accommodate event spaces and logistical access while creating a gradient of green towards the neighboring weiwuying park.

image by NAARO

different theaters such as the concert hall and the opera house are located in the five cores or ‘legs’ of the building where the structure meets the ground. the cores connect with one another via foyers in the roof and an underground service floor which houses the backstage area of each theater.

image by andrés gallardo albajar

the concert hall is shaped like a stepped vineyard with a stage at its center, with terraces at different floor heights encircle the podium. with seating on all sides of the stage, the audience is in close proximity to the performance itself. meanwhile, the opera house is arranged in the form of a horseshoe with three circled balconies. this theater is suitable for western opera, with an orchestra of over seventy musicians. the seating is upholstered in a mixture of red and purple fabrics with a pattern of taiwanese flowers, contrasting with the darker walls.

image by sytze boonstra

the 434-seat recital hall has the most intimate atmosphere of the four. with its asymmetrical composition and seating across two levels, it is designed for chamber music and recital performances. the seats in the recital hall have the same golden fabric as the concert hall and oak lines the walls. the upper part of this hall is enclosed by a circle of sound-absorbing curtains, allowing for the reverberation time within the space to be tuned to specific types of performance.

image by andrés gallardo albajar

with 1,210 seats, the playhouse is designed to host a variety of drama and dance performances. flexibility is the core element in the design of this multifunctional space. in the playhouse, the layout is adaptable and can be changed from a typical proscenium stage with the audience in front, to a thrust stage with the audience on three sides. see designboom’s previous coverage of the project here.

concert hall | image by shawn liu studio

playhouse | image by national kaohsiung centre for the arts

opera house | image by national kaohsiung centre for the arts

opera house | image by ethan lee

recital hall | image by sytze boonstra

image by sytze boonstra

banyan plaza | image by national kaohsiung centre for the arts

image by shawn liu studio

image by ethan lee

project info:

name: national kaohsiung centre for the arts
location: xinxing district, taiwan
client: ministry of culture
program: theater complex of 141,000 sqm in the wei-wu-ying metropolitan park with a total capacity of 5,861 seats: concert hall 1,981 seats, opera house 2,236 seats, playhouse 1,210 seats, recital hall 434 seats, a public library of 800 sqm, 1,000 sqm of rehearsal/education halls for music and dance, 2 conference halls with 100 and 200 seats and stage building workshops. including 7ha landscape

architect: mecanoo
local partner: archasia design group, taipei, taiwan
partner in charge: francine houben
project architect: nuno fontarra
project director: friso van der steen
design team: aart fransen, bohui li, ching-mou hou, danny lai, frederico francisco, jaytee van veen, joost verlaan, leon van der velden, magdalena stanescu, nicolo riva, rajiv sewtahal, reem saouma, sander boer, sijtze boonstra, wan-jen lin, yuli huang, william yu, yun-ying chiu.
site supervision: archasia design group, taiwan

consultants —
structural engineer: supertech, taiwan
mechanical engineer: yuan tai, taiwan
electrical engineer: heng kai, taiwan
acoustic consultant: xu-acoustique, france
theatre consultant: theateradvies, the netherlands; yi tai, taiwan
lighting consultant: CMA lighting, taiwan
fire safety: ju jiang, taiwan
organ consultant: oliver latry, france
roof and façade consultant: CDC, USA
3D consultant: lead dao, taiwan
traffic consultant: SU international, taiwan