A performing arts centre for whom? Rethinking the architect as negotiator of urban imaginaries

Inge Goudsmit, Maria Kaika and Nanke Verloo
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Inge Goudsmit: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Maria Kaika: University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Nanke Verloo: University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Urban Studies, 2024, vol. 61, issue 2, 350-369

Abstract: In this study, we interpret architecture not as a single imaginary stemming from architects and architectural patrons, but as the result of negotiating urban politics and urban imaginaries between different stakeholders, including policymakers, citizens, and developers. We focus in particular on the role of architects within this process as mediators between different stakeholders, who nevertheless have their own specific agenda to pursue. We draw on an empirical case of the Taipei Performing Arts Centre, a cultural flagship project built in Taiwan and designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. Through a review of internal documents, interviews, and content analysis on archival data, we expose the controversy over the integration of the historical ‘low culture’ local food market into the design for the new ‘high culture’ Performing Arts Centre. Although the architects imagined and pursued the integration of the new centre into the existing local culture, both policymakers and local citizens contested this attempt. The study concludes that, despite claims from both policymakers and architects of representing ‘the people’, there were often misunderstandings, deliberate or otherwise, regarding the needs of ‘the people’ or indeed of who ‘the people’ are.

Keywords: iconic architecture; OMA; role of architects; urban imaginary; urban politics; æ ‡å¿—æ€§å»ºç­‘; OMA; 建筑师的角色; 城市想象; 城市政治 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:2:p:350-369

DOI: 10.1177/00420980231183154

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