Taipei Pop Music Centre
In these times of increasingly digital music consumption, how can a new temple to pop music be built that creates a base for both musicians and their fans? Expressing Taiwan’s innovation and vitality, the music center must be a unique building; a pop building; a rock building; a show building? Yes, but not a show-off building. It’s the show that matters and the building should facilitate that. It should draw a crowd, but also serve that same crowd without drawing too much attention to itself; a delicate combination.
- Location
- Taiwan
- City
- Taipei
- Year
- 2009
- Surface
- 45000 m²
- Client
- Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government Program
- Status
- Competition
- Programmes
- Cultural , Auditorium , Exhibition , Sports
- Themes
- Architecture , Leisure , Culture
MVRDV posed the question 'In these times of increasingly digital music consumption, how can a new temple to pop music be built that creates a base for both musicians and their fans?' Expressing Taiwans innovation and vitality, the music center must be a unique building; a pop building; a rock building; a show building? Yes, but not a show-off building. Its the show that matters and the building should facilitate that. It should draw a crowd, but also serve that same crowd without drawing too much attention to itself; a delicate combination.
Each concert, each show, is a unique experience that people want to be a part of. The building should accommodate this desire by offering maximized possibilities to create different moods for each performance. Each visit should contain an element of surprise. The building should combine contrasting combinations, such as a venue with a specific character vs. a neutral reception podium.
It should be recognizable and surprising; edgy and smooth; messy but controllable. A concert hall for pop music is different to a traditional concert hall, or an opera house. The whole event of dressing up, showing off and hanging out is part of going to any concert. But the setting and the behaviour demand something entirely different. A pop music building should be tough and easygoing at the same time; cosy but also easy to control.
The outer appearance of the building and the position of the building on the site mark its image as a tough block with soft edges; rock meets pop. The interior of the lobby and the public spaces in between the different auditoria and halls inside the building address a similar mood that combines these contrasts. Neutral for infinite possibilities. The building is like a sculpture, its surface is rough and rocky, where openings are cut, or pushed into the volume it is smooth and round.
At night LEDs shine out creating different colour moods around the building. On entering a specific performance space the interiors are more neutral allowing the performer to dress up the room, by lights stage sets, or just perform without any décor, just music, each artist or each night a different experience.The open-air theatre acts like a hidden valley inside the building. Its presence can be sensed by the smaller bumps in the roofline of the building.
The public can enter the building from several points; the plaza, the ramps in the green park zone and the main entrances on the Zhongxiao Road. Once inside, a spacious lobby opens up, a varied 3d space formed by the space in between the volumes of the performance halls, the stacked boxes of the live houses, shops and exhibition spaces and the contours of the building volume. Boxes act as multimedia billboard for concerts. The Taipei pop music center has a complex and varied program; many different activities have to take place at the same time. Routes are laid out in such a way that different activities can take place without impeding each other and where possible enrich each other.
Gallery
Credits
- Architect
- Principal in charge
- Strategy & Development
- Partners