Studio Gang Architects, along with joint tenderer J. J. Pan and Partners received second prize at Taipei Pop Music Center Competition.
The idea of this project is to form a live music hub that creates richly diverse experiences reflective of Taipei’s music scene. The design knits together unique venues—large and small—with indoor, outdoor and semi-enclosed public spaces, forming a dense urban architecture connected through the live experience of music.
More images and full architect’s description after the break.
Concentration of the program into essentially one building offers the added advantage and a rare opportunity of liberating space for an urban park of significant size. This urban park is a space where citizens of this rapidly-developing section of Taipei will come together with visitors to the TPMC, thus becoming an important element in the social structure of the neighborhood. The result will be a higher quality urban environment, not only for the TPMC, but for the entire Taipei city.
Our age of electronic connectivity radically expands pop music’s audience but simultaneously threatens itseconomic viability. Digital music is now essentially free for the download. In the face of this challenge, theimperative for the TPMC (and ultimately for architecture itself) is to make real-space with live-experience more exciting and more enduring than its virtual counterpart.
In Taipei we sensed an anxiety from the music industry over the Nangang site—that it might be too new, undeveloped and distant to attract audiences and visitors. Indeed, the site is not yet as active as the night markets or Gongguan district. We sought to address this with a concentration of energy: urban design’s equivalent of a big party.
In Taiwan, every big outdoor party starts with a tent—their colorful, illuminated fabric protects guests from rain while defining a space for diverse social occasions. Tents signify fun. The building we propose performs as a gargantuan Bando tent. It shields visitors from the rain while creating an atmosphere that feels at once indoor, outdoor and festive. Like a tent, it serves as a meeting place where diverse musical experiences can be shared by creating a space for the dynamic and nomadic relationships between audiences and bands. Architecturally, the building amplifies energy by making activities visible under one shared roof.
TEAM
LEAD ARCHITECT – Studio Gang Architects ASSOC. ARCH – J.J. Pan & Partners STRUCTURAL – Arup Beijing FP / MEP / BP – Arup Hong Kong ACOUSTICS – DHV SCENOGRAPHY – dUCKS scéno LANDSCAPE – West 8 GRAPHICS / EXHIBITS – C&G Partners RENDERINGS – Labtop
