Abalos+Sentkiewicz project for the Taipei Performing Arts Centre

The two-phase international competition for the new Performing Arts Centre in Taipei included more than 100 offices from around the world. The competition was won by OMA, and generated an intense discussion on ArchDaily.
Now we bring you a proposal from the 2nd phase by spanish architects  Ábalos + Sentkiewicz. We´ll try to get more projects so you can have the whole picture on this competition.
UPDATE: You can read Architect’s description after the break.


From human being origins, people doing circles around someone who is speaking, singing, dancing or arguing -under a tree shadow if possible- has been the main characteristic of performing. Our music halls maintain this original condition and extend their geometry to the whole complex, which turns into a group of big trees with a stratified structure, as the local tropical forest, working at the same time as a functional scheme and an environmental strategy:

• Over the trees a roof tour that conform a new landscape is proposed, giving identity to the complex.
• Music Halls are in the trees, organized around a principal lobby and two secondary ones. Each hall adopts a particular configuration reinforced by its different coloration (gold silver, bronze).
• Under the trees, topography splits in two: Upwards, composing a park protected from the sun and the rain. Downwards composing a complex of commercial galleries that extend the activity from Shilin Night Market and goes through the building.

Against the typical configuration of a principal and a back façade this project achieves a total urban isotropy, not only with four but with five facades in relation with the context.

Architects: Ábalos + Sentkiewicz Arquitectos
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Client: Taipei City Government
Architects in Charge: Iñaki Abalos, Renata Sentkiewicz
Local Architects: Ricky Liu and Associates / Architects + Planners,
Project Team: Jorge Álvarez Builla (Project manager), Andrés Besomi Terrazas, Margaux Eyssette, Victor Garzón, Nissim Haguenauer, Pablo de la Hoz, Ismael Martín, Alfonso Miguel, Laura Torres Roa
Constructed Area: 48,105 sqm
Structural Engineer: Agustí Obiol. Boma / KLC & Associates
Green Architecture: Florencio Manteca. CENER
Performing Consultant: Wu Jing-Jyi, Hsu Po-Yun, Li Huan-Hsiun, Taiwan
Theatre consultants: Theateradvises BV, Netherlands / PAT,Taiwan
Stage mechanical: Ángel Pérez Sellers. Thyssen Krupp Spain
Acoustic Consultant: Higini Arau, Arau Acústica
M/E: Frontier Engineering / C.C.LEE & Associates
Prevention & Evacuation: Taiwan Fire Safety Consulting
Traffic: THI Consultants Inc, Taiwan
Model: Transference Cosmos Model, Taiwan
Infographics: Andrés Besomi Terrazas, Nissim Haguenauer, Pablo de la Hoz