When I look at it, my first thought is, ‘What a strange building.’ And then I continue looking at it. My eyes wrap over the jointed, curving facade-of-many-parts; they take in the fern green folds and faux hills; they light up and laugh a bit when seeing the regular fenestration volumes poking through solids, rather playfully. It is a strange building- that is patently true. Most buildings today are mundane- this one bucks the trend and should be applauded for it.
courtesy of mario bellini architects
Outside, the proposed Taipei Pop Music Center by Mario Bellini Architects takes an intriguing and inverted stance towards landscaping. Rather than creating a clearly manmade building which sites amongst flowing and organic landscaping, the Bellini proposal offers a building of organic and ‘landscaped’ appearance which sits down amongst and around a regular, graded, pedestrian walking plaza. This walking plaza sits as if within a canyon, created by the two building volumes rising as hills on either side.
The interior of the building is something more clearly manmade. Circulation exists on several levels; the exterior motif of glassed walkways penetrating across volumes is again reiterated. The space is manmade, but the energy is not lost. There is still a natural feel, only one slightly more familiar.
Courtesy of Mario Bellini Architects