The Great Hall
P. S. Chen and Partners with Yu I Lu Architects · 1994
Inside the entrance the building opens into a hall three storeys high, faced in pale travertine and lit from above by a sawtooth roof of concrete beams and glass. Balconies run around it at each level, so that from the upper galleries you look down on the floor as if into a courtyard. A long calligraphy banner hangs on one wall, a sculpture stands at the far end, and the wide stair rises along one side. Everything that happens in the museum begins and ends here: tickets, orientation, the ends of exhibition routes, and the museum's own occasional performances and openings.
The hall is the architectural idea of the whole building. Look up at the roof beams, which slope in one direction to catch the northern light and keep out the direct sun of the south; the effect is a cool, even daylight that changes only slowly through the day. The stone floor and walls absorb sound so that even a crowded hall stays quiet. Notice too how the openings on the upper levels are of different sizes and heights, giving glimpses into the galleries and drawing you upward. It is a modern version of the courtyard house, with the roof closed.
The calligraphy and the sculpture on view change from time to time and are chosen from the museum's own collection, which is strong in the work of southern Taiwanese artists of the twentieth century. If you have only a short time, the hall and the galleries that open directly off it will give you the character of the museum, and the balconies on the second and third floors are the best place to see the space as a whole.
Did You Know? The sawtooth roof over the hall faces north so that the galleries get daylight without the direct glare of the southern Taiwanese sun.
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