Construction begins on RUR Architecture’s Taipei Pop Music Center’s South Site

Construction started Thursday on the Taipei Pop Music Center’s South Site, a two-part urban complex designed by Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto of RUR Architecture DPC. 

The mixed-use center is dedicated to the production and performance of Taiwanese pop music. Plans call for a fan-shaped, 5,000-seat Main Hall, an outdoor performance area for 3,000 spectators, and three live houses for smaller shows. The layout will allow for multiple concerts to be held concurrently.

A “crystalline egg,” named the Industry Shell, will house production facilities. A building called the Cube will contain a Hall of Fame with an exhibition space, digital media center, two lecture halls, and a Sky View Lounge. The lounge’s box seats will give guests views of the entire event space.

The complex will also contain shops, markets, cafes, restaurants, and an urban park.

The center’s North Site is already under construction and it will be completed by 2018.

“We envision the Taipei Pop Music Center as a coherent environment, not merely a collection of performance spaces but a vibrant new part of the city itself,” RUR said on its website. “As Hollywood is to world cinema so the Taipei Pop Music center will be to Asian Pop.”

The South Site (left) and North Site (right). The North Site contains the Main Hall, which seats 5,000. Click image to enlarge.

The Main Hall, with the Cube in the background. Click image to enlarge.

The North and South Sites. Click image to enlarge.

Public ground bridges the Xinsheng Rd. Corridor to connect the two sites. Click image to enlarge.