The Twenty-first Century is an age of electronic connectivity that radically expands pop music's audience, but simultaneously threatens its economic viability. The Taipei Pop Music Center challenges the notion by making real space and live experience more exciting and more enduring than their virtual counterparts.

Two primary venues compose the building: the one-of-a-kind Oculus (which accommodates 13,000 fans under a giant void that opens to the sky) and the Indoor Main Hall (which can hold 5600 fans in a range of configurations). Leading to the Main Hall are the "Famous Steps,” whose amphitheatre-like topography creates opportunities for spontaneous performances and social gatherings. Additional program—including restaurants, retail kiosks, and recording booths—is connected by the “Public Loop” that culminates at the Hall of Fame on the building’s third and highest floor.

The building's compact design preserves the majority of the site for use as a vibrant urban park, serving the many outdoor music festivals of Taipei while adding important green infrastructure to this rapidly-developing neighborhood of Nangang.

Associate Architect: J.J. Pan & Partners
Structure: Arup Beijing
FP/MEP/BP: Arup Hong Kong
Acoustics: DHV
Scenography: dUCKS scéno
Landscape: West 8
Graphics/Exhibits: C&G Partners

Awards

2010 Second Prize, Taipei Pop Music Center International Competition