Taipei Arena

The Taipei Arena (Chinese: 臺北小巨蛋; pinyin: Táiběi xiǎo jùdàn; Wade–Giles: T'ai2pei3 hsiao3 chü4tan4; lit.: 'Taipei little big egg') is an multi-purpose stadium located in Songshan, Taipei, Taiwan, and it is operated by the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC). Built in 2005, the large multi-purpose stadium can accommodate major international sport events such as ice skating, ice hockey, gymnastics, handball, basketball, tennis, badminton, table tennis, indoor soccer, boxing, judo, karate, taekwondo and wrestling.

Not to be confused with Taipei Dome.
Taipei Arena
臺北小巨蛋
Taipei Arena in 2009
Full nameTaipei Multi-purpose Stadium
LocationSongshan, Taipei, Taiwan
Coordinates25°03′02.55″N 121°33′0″E
Elevation4.06 ft (1.24 m)
Public transit Taipei Arena Station, Taipei Metro
OwnerTaipei City Government
OperatorTaipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC)
TypeStadium
Genre(s)Sporting events, concerts
Capacity
  • 15,000 (sporting events)
  • 7,000–13,000 (concerts)
Field size76 × 41.5 m
Field shapeRectangular
ScoreboardYes
Construction
BuiltDecember 2001–July 2005
Opened1 December 2005 (2005-12-01)
Construction cost$4.7 billion TWD
ArchitectPopulous
BuilderBES Engineering Corporation
Website
english.arena.taipei

Building

It was designed by Archasia, an architectural firm based in Taipei and Populous, a Kansas City, Missouri (USA) design architectural firm specializing in sports venues.[1] It is located at the site of the former Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium (built in 1958, opened 1959, demolished 2000). The arena was opened on 1 December 2005. The main arena has an adjustable floor space: its minimum floor space is 60m × 30m, and can be extended to 80m × 40m.

The Chinese Taipei Ice Hockey League (CTIHL) plays out of the auxiliary arena, which is a 60m × 30m ice skating rink. The basement now houses two large gas turbine power generators to be used for the surrounding district during emergencies.[2]

Taipei Arena Sky Screen
A 2009 NBA Exhibition game between the Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets at the Taipei Arena

Taipei Arena Sky Screen was constructed in December 2006, on the outer glass wall of Taipei Arena. It was the world's largest LED display at that time.[3]

The screen is a long arc type outdoor dynamic display, featuring a built in light sensor that enables LED to adjust its own brightness according to ambient lighting. It was built by Optotech and currently operated by Nova Media. It is on 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, displaying mainly corporate advertisements, live coverage and visual creativity supplemented content.

The screen also engages its audience though cross-screen interactive events and applications.

Events

Since opening in 2005, the arena has held more art and cultural activities (such as live concerts) than sporting events, which it was originally designed and built for. These have included Disney on Ice and Cirque du Soleil, Cats the Broadway Musical.[4]

International Artists in the table below are highlighted in light blue.

Non-Entertainment Events:

  • Inaugural ceremony and celebrations of President Ma Ying-Jeou and Vice-President Vincent Siew on 20 May 2008.

Dates Unknown:

  • Jolin Tsai performed her 1st concert in the arena in November 2006 for her Dancing Forever World Tour.
  • Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki's Asia Tour, which had more than 10,000 tickets sold out in 1 hour. That was the 1st concert at the venue to be performed by a J-Pop artist.
  • Taiwanese Aborigine pop star Chang Hui-mei's STAR TOUR world tour.
  • Irish-American dancer and musician Michael Flatley reprises his role as Lord of the Dance in the Feet of Flames 2009 tour.
  • The Indiana Pacers vs Denver Nuggets game was the first (United States) National Basketball Association game held in the country back in 2009.
  • In the rotation for the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. The venue is a frequent host of the International Skating Union figure skating championship for the Americas, Asia, Oceania, and Africa.

Transport

Taipei Arena is accessible from Taipei Arena Station of the Taipei Metro.

References
  1. "運動場館規劃設計經驗分享". Taiwan Architect.
  2. "Taipei Arena". Archived from the original on 22 July 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  3. "Nova Media". Retrieved 5 Aug 2014.
  4. "又來了 小巨蛋沒有LED計分器" (in Chinese). China Times. 2007-03-14. Archived from the original on 2007-03-18.
  5. "Super Junior Breaks Records with ‘Super Show 4’ in Taiwan" CJ E&M enews World. 2012-02-26
  6. http://english.arena.taipei/ct.asp?xItem=140670179&ctNode=63612&mp=12203B
  7. "100,000 Taiwanese fans scramble for 'Namie Amuro Final Tour 2018' tickets".
  8. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3347524
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