A couple weeks ago, we featured STL‘s proposal for the Kaohsiung Competition. Now, Sun & Schrempp Associates have shared with us their design for a Marine and Pop Music Center driven by the wave motion of the water experienced at Kaohsiung’s marine port. More images and architect’s description after the break.
Kaohsiung’s Marine port is a vital element to the city’s culture and history. It used to serve as one of the largest marine ports in the world and is still the largest port in Taiwan. The unifying concept of this project is the wave motion of the water in the port. The wave motion drove the design of the site and each building. The Marine and Container industries along with the night market scene are prominent components of Kaohsiung’s history and culture that we want to incorporate. The industries provide the link to the rest of the world and the Kaohsiung night market is the city’s main cultural feature. We will transform the existing storage containers to an area suited for music and cultural performance, markets of fresh local foods, and lines of local shops similar to the city’s night market scene.
The circulation on our site for pedestrians, bicyclists, city buses, and ferries connect all of the buildings and the three sections of the site together. We have numerous walking paths and bridges within the site creating large public spaces at their junctions. We integrate a pedestrian and bicycle path along the exterior of the site for the local people as a continuous unobstructed path for their daily transportation needs outside of the Center. We will add bus stops along the exterior of the site and the ferry stops within the port to increase accessibility to the site and to activate the site.
The main auditorium is the primary focus of the site and will be located at the center of the U-shaped site. It will be raised six meters to create a prominent view from the city streets and a floating feeling between the two auditoriums which are surrounded by water. The raised platform also allows for the underground parking and the lower level services for both auditoriums. The garage entrance is hidden from view by a waterfall off the garage into the water feature to the side of the auditorium. The two auditoriums frame the platform entrance while creating a public space for people to gather at all times. The public space has views of the entire site, the floating stage, and links the continuous path between the east and west sides.
The outdoor performance area is centrally located on the site along the water facing the floating stage. The outdoor performance area is directly inline with entrance and will be framed by the two auditoriums. It can accommodate up to 12,000 people within its stepped seating. We will design the outdoor performance area to be as flexible as possible allowing for all types of audiences and venues on the floating stage. The outdoor performance area will be able to accommodate rock and pop concerts where people will be able to stand up to sing, dance, and hang out with friends. And for relaxing classical concerts and operas where people will want to sit and enjoy the music. We want the grass stepped area to be activated at all times and to be used as a public space where local people and visitors can enjoy their lunch, spend time with their friends and children, or just relax in the sun.
The floating stage can be docked to host 12,000 at the front entrance seating, 50,000 on the west side park, and when anchored in the center of the port it can accommodate the entire site of almost hundreds of thousands or even millions of people. The adaptability of the floating stage distinguishes itself from the other performance halls in terms of its audience size, location, and venue which creates the most unique and distinct feature of our project.
The floating stage can be docked to host 12,000 at the front entrance seating, 50,000 on the west side park, and when anchored in the center of the port it can accommodate the entire site of almost hundreds of thousands or even millions of people. The adaptability of the floating stage distinguishes itself from the other performance halls in terms of its audience size, location, and venue which creates the most unique and distinct feature of our project.
