Mecanoo brought a theater consultant on board to make sure sufficient thought was given to both form and function. The acoustics of the concert hall, Taiwan’s first with 360-degree seating, make performances in the large space feel deceptively intimate. For instance, the recital hall’s asymmetric design facilitates viewing of the pianist’s hands.

“The design principle that Francine brought to Weiwuying was to get people close to the arts, and close to each other,” said Chien Wen-pin, the arts center’s executive and artistic director, a position he took after serving as director of Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf for 22 years. A native of Taipei, Taiwan’s capital in the north, he was persuaded to return to Taiwan in 2013 by the island’s culture minister, Lung Ying-tai.

Mr. Chien praised the versatility of the stages and performance spaces in the arts center’s four halls, which he said he hoped would enable performers to re-envision their art.

“We want artists to come and feel and create for themselves,” he said. “We want to push artists to create new work.”

The arts center at Weiwuying appears to be off to a strong start: It had 800,000 visitors in its first nine weeks after opening, and larger performances have drawn audience members from Taiwan’s northern cities as well as farther afield, including Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

It also seems to be well received by those who do not take particular interest in the arts. Chen Hsiao-li, a Kaohsiung resident who runs a small shop selling betel nuts and cold drinks near Weiwuying, said she thought the arts center would help revitalize the neighborhood.

“I’m not really the theatergoing type, but my daughter is, so it’s nice that she has somewhere she can go for that,” Ms. Chen said. “For the rest of us, I think it will bring more people into Kaohsiung and bring more business to this part of the city.”