By RK Shih/Staff. Images via KH City Govt.
KAOHSIUNG — A major transit-oriented development next to Weiwuying (衛武營) picked up an international design award, long before its completion date, which could be 2034 or later.
The Liberty Times reports that Kaohsiung’s MRT (高雄捷運) O10/Y18 joint development project near Weiwuying Station won a Gold Award at the New York-based MUSE Design Awards, according to the city’s Mass Rapid Transit Bureau.
Officials said the project was recognized for its attempt to solve a familiar problem: how to keep a major cultural venue from becoming an island. The design aims to extend Weiwuying’s cultural activity beyond the concert hall and into everyday city life.
The development, contracted last year, will combine hotel, residential, retail, and performance spaces in a single complex.
Plans include a boutique hotel operated by an international brand, which would be designed in part to serve visiting performers and audiences. A “black box” theater on the ground floor — with capacity for roughly 120 to 200 people — is another feature intended to support smaller productions and emerging theater groups.
Lower floors will also house co-working and startup spaces, while a central plaza and outdoor areas will be the place for exhibitions, markets, and small-scale performances. The goal is to complement Weiwuying’s large venues with more flexible, accessible cultural spaces.
The project sits directly adjacent to the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (衛武營國家藝術文化中心), and is part of a broader effort to build a more integrated cultural and creative district in the area.
