Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Boasting the largest organ in Asia and four theatres, this enormous performing arts venue invites people to exercise, nap and even break into song
Looking like the colossal love child of a container ship and a whale, writhing above the treetops of Weiwuying park in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung, the world’s largest performing arts centre has a suitably immense presence. By turns galumphing and graceful, the roughly £260m hulk contains an opera house, concert hall, theatre and recital hall, seating up to 7,000 people within its curvaceous shell. As Taiwan faces ever more pressure for assimilation from mainland China, whose cultural building boom has led to a new museum or concert hall open practically every week in recent years, the National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts, AKA Weiwuying, is a monumental statement that this plucky nation means business on the international cultural stage.
Gaping openings in the building’s hefty flanks beckon you into a cave-like landscape, where the floor rides up in great waves as the ceiling plunges down to meet the ground, forming a world of tunnels and canyons. The glossy-white steel skin is sliced open in places, bringing shafts of light into the space and offering intriguing glimpses of the venues within. It provides cooling respite from the tropical heat of this coastal city, channelling the breeze beneath its bulging belly to make a welcome place for picnics, tai-chi, yoga classes and some exhilarating swings.
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