Catenoidal space is not the easiest thing to wrap your head around. Think complex curving tubes. How to build it? Toyo Ito found the solution with a mix of digital and analog processes. Here we present a special preview of our Cubes 85 Apr/May feature on the National Taichung Theatre, Taiwan.
March 28th, 2017
Last year saw the realisation of an 11-year-long dream for Toyo Ito. The completion of the National Taichung Theater building (with local architect Da-Ju Architects and Associates) has introduced a new environment to the people of Taichung city – an extension of the adjacent recreational park into a complex and intricate interior shaped by a continuously curved structure that has been dubbed the ‘Sound Cave’.
Financed by the Taichung City Government, the building is an integrated spatial-structural system that provides a sense of nature’s dynamism. It draws people through a perpetually emergent network of openings, conveying them upwards with the curving currents of staircases, and transferring them out onto a rooftop landscape of abstract peaks and valleys. Ito perceives the continuous route that connects the ground-level city garden to the rooftop as “a pleasant walking trail in the park.”
The ‘Sound Cave’ consists of a Grand Theatre (seating 2007 people), a Play House (seating 800) and a Black Box theatre (seating 200), with equally captivating circulation spaces as well as shops, a restaurant and a gallery area. The beamless structure of curved walls, merging into floors and ceilings, creates spaces where, by Ito’s account, “light and sound travel fluently creating a unique and extraordinary experience.”
The composition is essentially a series of connected ‘catenoidal’ spaces. A catenoid is a type of curved surface generated by rotating a catenary curve around an axis. In simpler terms, it is akin to a tube with a curving wall that appears to have been gently pinched around the middle. The construction of the catenoidal building required digital and analog processes, ultimately being realised with a complex ‘truss-wall’ construction method – a more cost-effective alternative to conventional concrete formwork.
Read the full story in Cubes issue 85 (Apr/May), including Razvan Ghilic-Micu’s interview with Toyo Ito. Cubes 85, sporting a brand new look, will be on sale in early April!
Photography by Sergio Pirrone.
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Savage Design’s approach to understanding the relationship between design concepts and user experience, particularly with metalwork, transcends traditional boundaries, blending timeless craftsmanship with digital innovation to create enduring elegance in objects, furnishings, and door furniture.
Marylou Cafaro’s first trendjournal sparked a powerful, decades-long movement in joinery designs and finishes which eventually saw Australian design develop its independence and characteristic style. Now, polytec offers all-new insights into the future of Australian design.
Sub-Zero and Wolf’s prestigious Kitchen Design Contest (KDC) has celebrated the very best in kitchen innovation and aesthetics for three decades now. Recognising premier kitchen design professionals from around the globe, the KDC facilitates innovation, style and functionality that pushes boundaries.
In the pursuit of an uplifting synergy between the inner world and the surrounding environment, internationally acclaimed Interior Architect and Designer Lorena Gaxiola transform the vibration of the auspicious number ‘8’ into mesmerising artistry alongside the Feltex design team, brought to you by GH Commercial.
CKDS has created distinctive new office space in Newcastle’s CBD following the adaptive reuse of what was previously a theatre.
From high school theatre buff to accomplished architect, Mark Raggatt reveals what drew him to his career, and outlines what his practice hopes to achieve as it expands into NSW.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Landing in the city’s financial district for the first time, The Sebel Sydney Martin Place has had its modern interiors completed by Stack Studio.
Beau Fulwood and Alison Peach on returning to a low-tech, first-principles concept of design as a strategy to combat climate change.
An entry by MuseLAB, in The Retail Space in the 2024 INDE.Awards, takes shoppers to another planet where diamonds and great interior design make a lasting impression.
Overcoming pandemic hurdles to redefine guest experiences amidst Sydney’s bustling entertainment precinct, The Darling has undergone a two-year restoration that melds Art Deco interiors with the necessities of hotel living.