Taipei Performing Arts Center

While we expect the constructions of the West Kowloon Cultural District to be completed soon, new arts venues in Taiwan are opening one after another.

Known for its popular night market for convenient transportation system, Shilin is a must go neighborhood in Taiwan for many Hongkongers. By 2016, Shilin will offer more than its night market, tourists can then visit the newly built Taipei Performing Arts Center (TPAC) and watch performances inside.

The TPAC is located opposite to the Taipei Metro Jiantan Station and next to the Shilin Night Market. Distinctive in its design, the TPAC is twelve-story building with one floor underground. The innovative theatre building is designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize awardee Rem Koolhaas and Taiwanese architect Kris Yao. The TPAC, comprised of a 1,500-seat Grand Theatre, an 800-seat Multiform Theatre, and an 800-seat Proscenium Playhouse, is a work of experimental interior design. Plugged into a corrugated glass-covered central cube, the three theatres can function independently while sharing backstage space and mechanical facilities. The Grand Theatre and the Multiform Theatre can also be combined into a Super Theatre, offering a 60-metre long stage for arts performances ambitious in experimental theatrical forms. The Super Theatre is a arts center accommodating 3000 audiences. Construction of the theatre building is in full swing while the TPAC team is busy planning and preparing for performances, personnel training and a series of international seminars and lectures. The TPAC has a budget of around 100 million NTD and plans to hold numerous events and performances when the building opens in 2016. As the team is keen to equip the arts sector by personnel training and to explore possibilities of theatre operations, a series of international seminars and lectures will be held to meet the opening of the TPAC. 

October 8 marks their next event, a talk about professional theatre operation and curation, on the topic “Taking Risks in Arts and Audiences”. Mr Jeff Khan, Artistic director of Performance Space, the Australian contemporary cultural and arts agency is invited to be the speaker of the event. Executive director of Cloud Gate Dance Foundation, Ms Yeh Wen-wen and organizing director of the TPAC, Mr Wang Meng-chao will be respondents. The talk will explore the prospective of creative projects and guide audiences to rediscover the multiple possibilities of art, and to discuss to future development of performing arts venues and institutions. For details, click  [link_to|http://www.tatt.org.tw/info/235|http://www.tatt.org.tw/info/235]

Reference materials:
3D animation of TPAC design   [link_to|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtS45yLqQhs|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtS45yLqQhs] 

(Designed picture, Source: Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government)

(Designed picture, Source: Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government)

(photo source: MyGoNews)