This competition entry, completed in early 2010, is our proposal for the International Performing Arts centre in Taipei, Taiwan. The project represents a continuation in our ongoing exploration of formal and programmatic variations. This process initiated with our competition-winning Eternity Tower in Dubai and continues throughout much of our work, most recently with the Catholic Church of the Transfiguration, in Lagos.

Inspired by the morphology of a flower, the building sits comfortably in the triangular site, with each of its three Auditoria facing one of the site’s vertices. The space between the petal-shaped auditoria becomes the heart of the building, covered by a large translucent canopy it draws the visitors in and distributes them across three levels to the various performance spaces. These performance spaces, each different in size and function, share a coherent and clear distribution, allowing the visitor to travel around their perimeter from the central atrium towards the raised street-facing entrances. 

By borrowing a language more common to the natural world, we have tried to design a building which represents a “budding flower” for the city of Taipei: A building which will stand as a new icon for the city.