Steel Construction Vol 40 No 1 - Architecturally Exposed Steel | Page 7

SAISC PROFILE
Size: 141 000m2
Status: Ongoing 2006 – 2016
Address: Zhōngzhèng 1st Rd 7, Kaohsiung,
Taiwan

Photo Harry Cock

Client: Ministry of Culture (MC)
Programme: Theatre complex in the Wei-WuYing Metropolitan Park with a total capacity of
6 000 seats: Concert Hall 2 000 seats, Opera
House 2 260 seats, Playhouse 1 254 seats,
Recital Hall 470 seats, public library of 800m²,
rehearsal/education halls for music and dance,
two congress halls with 100 and 200 chairs and
stage building workshops.
Awards: 1st prize Cityscape Architectural Award,
Dubai 2008; 3rd prize International Design
Award, IDA Los Angeles 2009; Chicago
Athenaeum International Architecture Award 2009.

The National Koahsiung Centre for the Arts in Taiwan showed all the best attributes
of steel. Delegates and students were blown away by what was achieved and left the
lectures with a fresh perspective and enthusiasm for their next steel project.

National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts
(Wei-Wu-Ying), Kaohsiung, Taiwan
The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts
(Wei-Wu-Ying) symbolises the transformation
of Kaohsiung, once a major international
harbour, into a modern, diverse city with a
rich cultural climate. Mecanoo designed the
National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts
(Wei-Wu-Ying), located on a former military
terrain, as an integral part of the adjacent
subtropical park to have a positive social
impact on the residents of Kaohsiung whose
population counts almost 3 million.
Inspired by the local Banyan trees with their
iconic crowns, the vast, undulating structure
is composed of a skin and roof, and connects
an extensive range of functions. The curved
steel structure was built in cooperation
between a local and a Dutch shipbuilder.
Underneath this roof is Banyan Plaza, a
generous, sheltered public space. Residents
can wander through here day and night,
practice Tai Chi or stage street performances
along walkways and in informal spaces.

mind, the open structure allows the wind to
blow freely through Banyan Plaza. The
seamless flow between interior and exterior
creates opportunities for crossovers between
formal and informal performances.
Different theatres such as the 2 000-seat
concert hall and 2 250-seat opera hall are
located in the five cores or ‘legs’ of the
building where the structure meets the
ground. The cores connect with one
another via foyers in the roof and an
underground service floor which houses the
backstage area of each theatre.
From a structural engineering and steel
fabrication point of view the support
structure is comprised of thick walled
structural tubes. The interior curved walls
are fabricated from 6mm steel plate.

A significant innovation was to use a ship
builder for fabrication to achieve the
complex geometry of the interior walls.
Significant wind loads were accommodated
by using special connecting rods with
springs to reduce dynamic load transfer to
the main skeleton. We recommend that you
view the YouTube video on the link below
do to justice to the complexity and ingenuity
of the project.
Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIYufMi0
Kls - (17min Documentary)
http://www.mecanoo.nl/Projects/project/54/N
ational-Kaohsiung-Center-for-the-Arts-Wei-WuYing?t=0
http://www.mecanoo.nl/News/ID/77/Nationa
l-Kaohsiung-Center-for-the-Arts-Wei-Wu-Ying-work-in-progress

An open-air theatre nestles on the roof
where the structure curves to the ground,
with the surrounding park forming the stage.
Designed with the subtropical climate in
ABOVE: The National Koahsiung Centre for the
Arts was inspired by the local Banyan trees.
RIGHT AND OPPOSITE PAGE: National Kaohsiung
Center for the Arts (Wei-Wu-Ying).

Steel Construction Vol. 40 No. 1 2016

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