While inspecting the construction of the Wu Wei Ying Center for the Arts (WWYCA) in Kaohsiung today, the premier said a cultural hotbed needs good arts facilities in which performers can express their talent, and the Wei Wu Ying Center for the Arts would provide Kaohsiung a world-class performance venue.
Premier Chen said he feels great affinity for Wei Wu Ying, as he was stationed there during his military service 40 years ago. "Back then, I never could have imagined the development this area is seeing today. Being here is a very moving experience," he said.
"People have said there is a north-south discrepancy in arts development in Taiwan because the facilities are better in Taipei than in the south. WWYCA will flip the script—people will still talk about a north-south gap, but that's because Kaohsiung's performance facilities will be so far above Taipei's."
He noted the concert hall will have a vineyard-style design, with serried rows of seats rising like vineyard terraces on all four sides of the stage, heightening the intimacy between the performers and the audience. "There are very few such venues in the world," Chen said.
"When the WWYCA formally begins operations in 2015, residents of southern Taiwan will enjoy world-class performances in a world-class facility," the premier said. "They will feel great happiness. And I'm sure arts lovers in northern Taiwan will come south to enjoy such experiences, as well."
The Ministry of Culture (MOC) said that the NT$10.1 billion-budget WWYCA construction project covers 9.98 hectares of area, and its buildings will have 34,353 square meters of service area. The tallest structure will be 37.42 meters. The main facilities include a 2,260-seat drama theater, 2,000-seat concert hall, 1,254-seat mid-sized theater and 470-seat recital hall. There will be parking and other public facilities, landscaping and an underground passageway to the Kaohsiung MRT.
The WWYCA, which will be Kaohsiung's version of the National Theater and Concert Hall in Taipei, is the first national-level art center in southern Taiwan and the government's biggest investment in culture in the past 25 years with respect to cost, the MOC said. The project design competition in September 2006 attracted 44 excellent architectural designers from around the world, and the first prize winner was Francine Houben of the Dutch firm Mecanoo Architecten.
Accompanying the premier to today's inspection were Executive Yuan Secretary-General Steven S.K. Chen, Minister without Portfolio Yang Chiu-hsing, Southern Taiwan Joint Services Center Deputy Chief Executive Officer Lin Ching-chiang and Deputy Minister of Culture Lin Chin-tien.