Taiwan’s New Performing Arts Center Refuses To Fit In With Its Protruding Shapes

Taiwan’s newest cultural center is taking a step outside of traditional architecture and embracing the quirkiness of shapes. 

The Taipei Performing Arts Center (TPAC) marries a traditional box-like building and attaches several different shapes to it, including a spherical concrete ball, held up by two pillars; and a rectangular box attached to its base. 

The structure, designed by architectural studio OMA alongside the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, is finally complete nine years after it was originally planned to open, and reportedly costs TW$6.75 billion (US$220 million).

TPAC comprises three uniquely-shaped buildings—the ‘Globe Playhouse’, ‘Grand Theater’, and ‘Blue Box’—rolled into one. Its oddball form is meant to invoke Taiwan’s collective creative and artistic spirit.

The Globe Playhouse, which makes up the sphere that looks half submerged in the building, works as an amphitheater and can seat up to 800 people.   

Meanwhile, the Grand Theater is a 1,500-seat multiform arts auditorium within the main glass cube structure; and the Blue Box is an experimental theater that can be combined with the main structure to create a fourth venue known as the Super Theater, which can hold up to 2,300 people. 

You won’t necessarily need a ticket to view some of the performances at TPAC. Instead, there is a hidden walkway, known as the Public Loop, that allows visitors to enter backstage areas, which are lined with little windows that give attendees a different perspective on the performing arts.

The glass and concrete monolith stick out against the electric colors of the Shilin Night Market, where it is located as a futuristic monument to the creative soul of the city. 

[via Dezeen and The Economist, cover image via OMA]