Mecanoo completes the world's largest arts centre in Taiwan

In 2011, Actuarchi showed you the first images of the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts in Taiwan, designed by the Dutch practice Mecanoo Architecten. Originally due for completion in 2013, the 141,000 m² cultural project opened last weekend, five years behind schedule. Only three years had been allowed for building this exceptional project; the works actually took eight.

Context and site

The Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung was founded under the Ming dynasty, before the Dutch settled there in 1624. Today, its economy relies mainly on port activity. It is one of the world's largest container destinations, behind the ports of mainland China, and the city also has an oil terminal and a shipyard. It now has a population of just under three million. In recent years Kaohsiung has developed its transport infrastructure, building metro lines and railway lines served by trains slightly faster than the TGV.

Mecanoo completes the world's largest arts centre in Taiwan – © Mecanoo Architecten — © Mecanoo Architecten

The building is 160 metres wide and 225 metres long, set in the middle of a former 47-hectare military site.

Mecanoo completes the world's largest arts centre in Taiwan – © National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts — © National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts

An extraordinary arts centre

The project takes the form of two large slabs, two horizontal layers, one emerging from the ground, the other from the sky. The upper layer is then pierced to create large openings for natural light. This stratum is in turn thickened or thinned to house the various cultural programmes of the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts.

Mecanoo completes the world's largest arts centre in Taiwan – © Iwan Baan — © Iwan Baan

Francine Houben, founder of Mecanoo Architecten, says she drew inspiration from the local banyan trees in designing the distinctive shape of the envelope. Inside, the project offers large covered spaces; as the local climate is humid, the architects have arranged them so that the wind cools visitors.

The concert hall is distinctive in placing seats all around the stage, putting the performers at the heart of their audience. Service facilities such as backstage areas are located in the lower layer, while the upper layer is left to the general public. This logic is followed for each gathering space.

The spaces are accessible day and night, and the architects have created areas where people can practise tai chi freely. An outdoor auditorium has also been shaped by an undulation of the roof that sweeps down to meet the ground. It is separated from the inaccessible roof by a planted bank.

The 434-seat recital hall follows an asymmetrical composition arranged over two levels.

Theatre and dance share a multi-purpose space with a capacity of 1,210 seats.

The 2,236-seat opera house is arranged in three horseshoe-shaped tiers. It has also been designed to host Western orchestras, while a suspended acoustic canopy nevertheless allows Chinese opera to be staged.

Technical and environmental choices

Unsurprisingly, the arts centre is built around a steel structure. However, its undulations ruled out conventional lattice girders, so forget standard rolled sections: the engineers opted for a network of tubular members, allowing the structure to curve in different directions. As a footnote, the construction contract was not awarded to a general contractor but to a shipbuilding company!

The steel structure is then clad in profiled steel sheeting, flexible enough to twist easily to form the fifth façade. The lower skin is made up of large steel plates, curved by uprights, which are connected to the primary structure by hundreds of jacks. For the engineers among our ever-growing readership, the video below, produced by the architects, shows behind the scenes on site.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIYufMi0Kls