Dawutai Theater

3D miniature architectural model, hand-cast from acrylic-reinforced plaster.
Comes gift boxed and includes a technical drawing style postcard.

Kaohsiung’s Dawutai (literally ‘Grand Stage’) Theater was one of the city’s architecturally opulent post-war theaters. Built in 1946 on the site of a former ice factory destroyed by American bombs during the war, the design envisaged by Penghu-born architect Xiao Fuzhu demonstrates a hybrid of architectural styles, blending the Japanese Imperial Crown style with traditional Minnan elements.

Originally intended as a traditional opera house, the building was outfitted for film projection in the 1950s, and then integrated with a host of other operations including a bookstore, art gallery and cafe in the 1970s as it cemented it’s status as the cultural and entertainment hub of the area.

Following a disastrous fire in 1976, in which the entire structure was reduced to a shell, the cinema underwent a full renovation, and the single hall was subdivided into multiple screening rooms in order to increase revenue, but as television increased in popularity and as businesses exited the area for other upcoming districts in the city, the cinema struggled to retain it’s former popularity and it limped on until 1999 when the doors were shuttered for the final time.

Because of the unique design, attempts were made to preserve the theater and list it as a cultural asset, but in 2013 demolition went ahead, and a large apartment block was constructed on the former site.

A huge thanks to the historian Kun Chen for his help providing historic documents and imagery in regards to the design of this model!