Practice says project has been designed to resemble a planet “docking” against a cube

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The Taipei Performing Arts Centre contains three theatres arranged around a central cube

OMA在台湾完成了一个重要的文化中心,建筑师说,该中心的设计类似于一个巨大的立方体与一个行星“对接”。

The Taipei Performing Arts Centre was commissioned by the Taipei City Government and designed in collaboration with local practice Kris Yao Artech and Arup, and will open to the public on 7 August.

The 59,000sq m complex is located above Taipei’s historic Shilin Night Market, the largest night market in Taiwan, and contains three theatres arranged around a central cube.

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The 800-seat Globe Playhouse is contained within a giant sphere attached to the side of the centre’s main block

800个座位的环球剧场坐落在一个球体内,附在主街区的一侧。大剧院有1500个座位,可以表演各种各样的艺术作品。第三个剧院有800个座位,是为实验性作品保留的。后两个剧院也可以连接起来,创建一个2300个座位的“超级剧院”。

OMA managing partner David Gianotten said: “The configuration of three theatres plugged into a central cube has resulted in new internal workings of the performing spaces to inspire unimagined productions.”

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The complex will open to the public in August

The practice’s founding partner Rem Koolhaas added: “We have seen contemporary performance theatres increasingly becoming standardised, with conservative internal operation principles.

“We want to contribute to the history of the theatre. Here in Taipei, we were able to combine three auditoria in a particular way.

“We are interested to see how this architecture will have an impact in terms of extending what we can do in the theatre.”

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Interior of the Globe Theatre

Austin Wang, chief executive of the performing arts centre, said the scheme was prepared for “every form of contemporary performance art from the most adventurous artists.”

He added: “Every foyer, every plaza, every unexpected corner is brimming with creative potential. We believe theatre of the future will outgrow conventional theatrical spaces.”

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Interior of a foyer area

The centre’s opening season includes Hong Kong theatre maker Vee Leong’s In Search of the Miraculous, a story about a quest for freedom inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

It will also show traditional theatre, including the grand finale of The Eight Immortals of Peng Lei series by Taiwanese opera company Ming Hwa Yuan.

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OMA designed the scheme for the Taipei City Government