National Theater and Concert Hall
Yang Cho-cheng · Taipei, Taiwan · 1987
Taipei’s National Theater and Concert Hall form a symmetrical pair on opposite sides of Liberty Square. Architect Yang Cho-cheng used monumental roof forms, columns and decorative elements associated with traditional Chinese palace architecture while housing modern performance halls and technical systems inside. The two buildings frame a large civic space with the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, making their urban role as important as their individual interiors. Opened in 1987, the complex is a major example of late twentieth-century Taiwanese state architecture using historical imagery to construct a formal national cultural identity.