WEIWUYING PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

At 141,000 square metres, the structure stands as the world’s largest performing arts centre under one roof. Set across a 470,000-square-metre subtropical park in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung, the scheme will occupy a former military training base, symbolising the city’s transition from a major international harbour into a rich, diverse, cultural hub that connects local and international artistic talent.

The facility will host performances by the world’s top artists, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, in a variety of performance spaces. A 2260-seat Opera House with a “proscenium” arch design will be equipped with the latest stage technology. A 2000-seat concert hall in “vineyard style,” with seats surrounding the performance stage at all sides, will feature a 9085-pipe organ, the largest ever built in Asia.

The centre also features smaller performance spaces, comprising a flexible 1000-1200 seat playhouse and a 470-seat recital hall. Connecting the building with the surrounding park, an outdoor performance space will host audiences of up to 20,000 people.

“Weiwuying is one of Mecanoo’s most ambitious buildings and embodies all the key elements of our philosophy,” said Francine Houben, the founding architect of Mecanoo. “Inspired by the beauty of the local Banyan trees with their iconic canopies of leaves, the vast, undulating structure is composed of a unique skin and roof under which generous free spaces can flow. We have aimed to deliver a flagship cultural destination for Taiwan, a beacon to attract performers and audiences from around the world.”

The October opening of Weiwuying will see the completion of three flagship institutions for the National Performing Arts Centre; an umbrella group also incorporating Taipei’s National Theatre and Concert Hall, and Toy Ito's National Taichung Theatre.