Taichung Opera House

The proposal for the Taichung Metropolitan Opera House takes as its beginning the urban condition of the site. The question of imminent urban density, or a density which has yet to materialize, was a driving consideration for the proposal. The strategy seeks to define a privileged precinct for the performing arts while also providing an amenity for the public. The proposal seeks to establish a threshold between the condition of the city and the experience of the Taichung Metropolitan Opera House by creating a wall of water around three sides of the project site. This wall will serve not as a boundary, but as a filter between the city and the arts. The lights and sounds of the city are not obscured, but rather softened by the screen of water in order that the life of the city can be sensed more quietly. Conversely, the life inside the performing arts precinct is transmitted through the water wall to the city beyond. As an instance, the main performing spaces are adjacent to the water wall such that activity within them is suggested to the city beyond. The water wall is created on the urban boundaries of the site and is omitted toward the park space thereby allowing dramatic views of the Taichung Metropolitan Opera House from the civic complex. In passing from the city to the Taichung Metropolitan Opera House, the visitor passes through the water wall in an act of metaphorical cleansing thereby becoming more fully receptive to the performances within. In order to preserve the sanctity of the performing precinct, the utilitarian spaces are located below ground level around the perimeter of the site. Shopping and creative workshops occupy a unique and dramatic location in the water covered step-well.