Abstract Summary
This study critically examines the role of architects in negotiating urban politics and urban imaginaries in the context of large-scale iconic architecture. Using the Taipei Performing Arts Centre (TPAC) designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) as a case study, we explore the complex dynamics between policymakers, citizens, and architects in shaping architectural projects and urban space. The TPAC was envisioned as a cultural flagship project that aimed to integrate the existing local culture with the new ‘high culture’ represented by the theatre. However, conflicts arose between the policymakers' vision, the architects' agenda, and the perspectives of local citizens. The controversy centered around the integration of a historical local food market into the design, with policymakers and citizens contesting this attempt. Drawing on a theoretical framework of urban imaginaries (Castoriadis, 1987; Kaika, 2011), we analyze the contrasting perspectives of different urban stakeholders and shed light on the architects' attempts to navigate between these perspectives while pursuing their own agenda. Through a review of internal documents, interviews, and content analysis of archival data, we uncover the misunderstandings and conflicts that emerged during the negotiation process. Despite claims of representing 'the people' from policy makers and architects, there were discrepancies in understanding their actual needs and desires, and indeed of who ‘the people’ were. In conclusion, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the role of architects in negotiating urban imaginaries and shaping urban spaces. It argues that the practice of architecture cannot be simply categorized as being good, bad, or ugly, but instead involves a complex balance between the visions held by different stakeholders, each with their own interpretations of what constitutes the good, the bad, and the ugly. References: Castoriadis, C. (1987). The Imaginary Institution of Society, trans. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Kaika, M. (2011). Autistic architecture: the fall of the icon and the rise of the serial object of architecture. Environment and Planning D-Society & Space, 29(6), 968-992.
