“Everyone’s Art Center”
In 2015, Chien proclaimed “Everyone’s Art Center” as the center’s positioning.
This slogan echoes the design concept of the center’s Dutch architect, Francine Houben. Inspired by the local banyan trees, she designed a flat roof consisting of a single undulating structure that resembles the canopy of a grove of the iconic trees. Hollow spaces formed within the interwoven aerial roots became passages and resting spots under the roof. Light radiates inside via skylights, mimicking the ambiance of sunlight filtering through treetops. Meanwhile, the network of linked ramps and municipal park pathways surrounding the center naturally channels the public into Banyan Plaza, where they can enjoy the comforts of this semi-outdoor space.
Under the streamlined roof, the interior space consists of four venues: the Concert Hall, the Recital Hall, the Opera House and the Play House.
The Concert Hall is the only one in Taiwan to adopt a “vineyard-style” design, in which the performers are entirely surrounded by the audience. Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), and Paris Philharmonic Hall all feature a similar design.
As a performance venue for chamber music and recitals, to obtain optimal acoustics the walls of the Recital Hall are lined with sound-reflecting wooden panels, with sound-absorbing drapery behind rhombic openings in the panels around the upper half.
The Opera House is the largest theater in Taiwan. Dominated by the color “Taiwan Red,” the horseshoe-shaped seating layout can accommodate audiences of up to 2,260 people.
The Play House is decorated mainly in Delft blue. Depending on the demands of a specific performance, the stage can be configured as a single-sided framed stage or a projecting three-sided stage. The latter positions the audience close to the performers, allowing theatergoers to experience the tension of the drama more intensely.
Southern Taiwan certainly deserves to enjoy world-class performance venues, but Chien does not wish for art to be put up on a pedestal. “I hope this will become a ‘place’ where everyone likes to come, and not a ‘temple.’” So they organize activities in Banyan Plaza such as inviting people to practice yoga or for children to play on swings. They have also organized movie screenings that allow spectators to recline casually in Banyan Plaza while watching a movie projected onto the curved steel-plate wall.
While strolling in the center’s “Time Gallery,” I read the detailed history of Weiwuying, and only then did I learn that this vast space served as a key military site from the Qing Dynasty through the era of Japanese rule and beyond. In 1979 the military relinquished claims to it, and in 1992 the Weiwuying Metropolitan Park Promotion Association, founded by poet and physician Dr. Tseng Kui-hai, promoted the site’s conversion into a municipal park. In 2003, the central government approved the “Weiwuying Art and Culture Center” plan, reserving ten hectares of land within the park for the art center, which was completed in 2018. As stated by President Tsai Ing-wen at the grand opening ceremony, its completion represents the fruits of efforts to strive for cultural equality and liberate space in the post-martial-law era.
Long based in Europe, Chien Wen-pin returned to Taiwan to focus on his new work of art—Weiwuying.