National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, southern Taiwan’s first national theater and the world’s largest performing arts facility under one roof, was officially opened Oct. 13, underscoring government efforts to offer greater access to culture for people across the country.
Located on a former military site in the city’s Fengshan District, the 9.9-hectare NKCA hosts a concert hall, exhibition space, opera house, recital hall, and indoor and outdoor theaters. Also housing Asia’s biggest organ with 9,085 pipes, it took 15 years and NT$10.7 billion (US$346 million) to build.
At the opening ceremony, President Tsai Ing-wen said the center, also known as Weiwuying after the 67-hectare army training base that previously stood on the site, demonstrates the government’s commitment to returning once off-limits military sites to the public domain.
According to Tsai, the center and other Kaohsiung institutions such as Dadong Arts Center and Pier-2 Art Center are expected to help shape the metropolis into a cultural hub.
Designed by Dutch architect Francine Houben, the NKCA boasts world-class facilities including a 2,000-person concert hall built in vineyard style—a first for Taiwan—where the audience surrounds all sides of the stage on seating that rises like sloping terraces.
The center will operate under the Taipei City-based National Performing Arts Center, which includes the National Theater and Concert Hall in the capital and the National Taichung Theater in central Taiwan. (CPY-E)
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