On Monday October 6th, the emir of Dubai, Sjeik Mohammed bin Rashi al-Maktoum, officially opened the seventh Cityscape Dubai 2008. During the gala dinner of the largest real estate and development event of its kind, Mecanoo director Francine Houben received the Cityscape Architectural Award for the National Performing Arts Center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
National Performing Arts Center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan by Mecanoo Architects
This theater and music complex will include a concert hall and an opera house. The prize, whose theme is ‘Design for an Emerging World’, has been awarded to the National Performing Arts Center because of the building’s strength in expression, the integration of the complex with the park, its advanced theater design and technical innovation and the building design’s response to the subtropical climate of the city of Kaohsiung. The Cityscape Architectural Award is endorsed by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
Entrance to the foyer
Francine Houben: “I am happy receiving this prize for the National Performing Arts Center. It means that Dubai honors designs that take climate issues into account and with attention for innovative and sustainable solutions.”
Inside the concert hall
In 2007, Mecanoo won the competition for the National Performing Arts Center. The theater complex of 100,000 m2 has a total of 6,000 seats: an opera house with 2,250 seats, a concert hall with 2,000 seats, a recital hall with 500 seats, a play house with 1,250 seats and an open air theater for thousands of visitors. The start of the building works is planned for December 2008. The theater complex will open its doors in 2012.
Section of the theater complex (All images: Mecanoo.)
The full list of Cityscape 2008 winners:
Commercial / Mixed Use - Built
Dogan Media Center, Ankara, Murat and Melkan Gursel Tabanlioglu
Commercial / Mixed Use - Future
Signature Towers, Zaha Hadid Architects
Community - Built
Inkwenkwezi Secondary School, Cape Town, Sonja Spamer Architects
Community - Future
National Kaohsiung Performance Arts Centre, Taiwan, Mecanoo Architecten
Leisure - Built
City Art Square, Shatin, Hong Kong, Barrie Ho Architecture Interiors and Sun Hung Kai Architects & Engineers
Leisure - Future
Xanadu Island Resort, Bodrum, Turkey, DSA Architects International
Residential - Built
Levent Loft, Istanbul, Murat and Melkan Gursel Tabanlioglu
Residential - Future
Putrajaya Waterfront Development, Kuala Lumpur, Manfred Nicoletti
Tourism, Travel and Transport - Built
The Toy Museum, Singapore, Chan Soo Khian
Tourism, Travel and Transport - Future
Bab’ Bhar Resort, Fujairah, Draw Link Group
Special Award - Environmental Award
Masdar Headquarters, Abu Dhabi, Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture
Special Award - Islamic Architecture Award
Renovation of Mosques of Historic Shindagha, Dubai Municipality
Revitalisation of Old Souq of Dubai by Dubai Municipality
Revitalisation of Historic Bastakia, Dubai, Dubai Municipality
Special Award – Master Planning Award
Zorlu Center, Istanbul, Tabanlioglu Architects Co. and Emre Arolat Architects.
Bustler
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