"Taichung Arena" was jointly designed by the well-known Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and Bio-architecture Formosana. Architect Kengo Kuma arrived in Taiwan today (15th) for a visit with Taichung Mayor Shiow-Yen Lu, expressing gratitude to the city government for realizing the arena-building plan. Mayor Lu led the city government team to receive the architect. She pointed out that Taichung is the second-largest city in the country. Therefore, it needs large-scale venues urgently, which the city government has an intense determination to build. After actively seeking the support of the Taichung City Council, they have successfully passed the project budget rise, increasing the overall project budget to NTD 9.998 billion. "We must finish the arena!"

About Kengo Kuma and his wife visit to Taichung, Mayor Lu expressed her delight in welcoming them to the city. She could not meet them for two or three years due to the epidemic and missed them. Taichung Arena is one of the primary construction projects that citizens are most looking forward to, and also the most vital task during her two mayoral terms. With global warming and months of scorching summer heat or freezing winter temperatures, the city government needs large indoor venues to host successful sports competitions or performances.

Mayor Lu mentioned that Kengo Kuma was entrusted with the design and construction of the main venue for the Tokyo Olympics. It is an honor for the citizens of Taichung to invite Kengo Kuma to design the Taichung Arena. She expects that in the future, the Taichung Arena will become a venue for civic life, various sports, or performances, but also a landmark of Taichung.

Kengo Kuma expressed that the Taichung Arena is the first public building project undertaken by Kengo Kuma Architects and Associates in Taiwan. He is delighted and eagerly anticipates witnessing Mayor Lu’s strong determination to realize the project. His impression of Taichung is that it is very green, and there are parks everywhere where you can see a lot of trees. He likes the city of Taichung very much. So, when their team designed the Taichung Arena, they hoped to build an indoor venue for Taichung citizens to enjoy sports, competitions, or performances in the hot summer or cold winter. Kengo Kuma is very much looking forward to the completion of the Taichung Arena, and he also sincerely thanked Mayor Lu for her hard work in obtaining an additional budget and actively promoting this project.

Da-Tian Chen, Director of the Construction Bureau, indicated that the arena is not a typical gymnasium. Kengo Kuma redefines the appearance of the Taichung Arena with “defeated architecture” by reducing the height of the stadium, incorporating the texture of the sport’s green corridor, and reducing the visual impact of the city. In the future, the arena will become the most representative sports venue in Taichung. Director Chen said that the Urban Development Bureau would plan and design Taichung Arena, and the Construction Bureau handle the project bidding and contract performance management. After the completion of the project, the Sports Bureau will hand over to introduce a professional team to operate it. By assigning responsibilities and duties to each bureau, the city government is committed to making the Taichung Arena the epitome of perfection.

Director Chen also mentioned that during the project bidding period faced various challenges, including the international epidemic, the Ukrainian-Russian war, and price fluctuations. After design content continuous adjustment and optimization by the city government, specialized management, and design units, they have increased the overall project budget to 9.998 NTD billion. Besides actively promoting the openness and transparency of the bidding process for Taichung Arena and establishing a "Government Procurement Integrity Platform," the city government is also currently in the process of public bidding to move forward with the arena building project.

Cheng-Wei Li, Director of the Urban Development Bureau, stated that the Taichung Arena is a unique building with the characteristics of Dajia rush weaving and combining the texture of Taichung City. The design team plans the main and auxiliary venues according to international standards. They also have 15,500 seats in the main arena, surpassing the Taipei and Kaohsiung Arenas. Additionally, it is the only arena in Taiwan that has integrated an acoustic design, ensured a superior soundscape and provided a high-quality acoustic environment.

Yu-Rui Lee, Sports Bureau Director, highlighted that the Taichung Arena has the versatility to host various sports events such as basketball, volleyball, badminton, tennis, and futsal. It can also be a venue for professional sports such as fencing, wrestling, martial arts, karate, judo, boxing, and taekwondo. Besides, it can also be a multi-site for large-scale performances, exhibitions, and art and cultural exchange activities. The bureau hopes that Taichung will be a priority in large-scale events and shows.

The Construction Bureau explained that the Taichung Arena connects the movement axis with a sky corridor, dilutes the vertical vocabulary of the building facade, decomposes the building shell into tinier elements to reduce the sense of heaviness, and creates a facade system with shading and ventilation functions. Simultaneously, the design team has utilized natural materials to establish an indoor environment that aligns with human scale. This approach fills the space with warmth and enhances light transparency, ultimately making the Taichung Arena a welcoming and amiable structure.