Rosie's Taipei Architecture Walking Guide
Highlighting European influences during Japanese colonial era in Taiwan
I’ve spent the last two summers consecutively in Europe and naturally developed an interest in architecture — especially styles commonly seen in Paris like Baroque, Haussmann-style and Gothic. This trip back home in Taipei, I started noticing the same style of buildings and became curious when they were built and why? So of course I had to find out and make a walking guide out of it (duh).
To figure out why there are so many European style buildings in Taiwan, my research started with understanding Taiwan’s complex colonial history.
The Control Yuan (監察院) built in 1915 by Tatsuno Kingo’s student Matsunosuke Moriyama (森山松之助)
Here’s the TL;DR: Taiwan was under Japan colonial rule from 1895 to 1945, at the time, Japan was itself experiencing rapid industrialization and eager to adopt western practices. It had set up the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo and hired lecturers from United Kingdom.
One of which was Josiah Conder, a British architect, who brought Victorian style and classical antiquity vocabulary to Tokyo. Tatsuno Kingo (辰野金吾) was one of he’s many distinguish students and was soon sent to England to further he’s studies in classical and “modern” architecture. He returned to teach at the Imperial College himself and was known for he’s “Tatsuno style” featuring wide use of red bricks.
When the time came to build new government buildings, train stations and other major landmarks in Taiwan, many of Tatsuno’s students were eager to try their hands. Hence the designs were heavily influenced by Classical revival (columns, arches, pediments), Victorian style (red bricks, white stripes), Baroque (Haussmann-style, mansard roofs) and even Gothic revival (stain glass windows).
There, mystery solved and now on to the walking guide, c’est parti!
📍Self-guided walking tour (link)
This tour will take you through the heart of the city, cutting through clusters of government buildings, the 228 Peace Memorial Park and to the old city center. The walk starts near MRT Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall station exit 7 and ends at Taipei Main station — dropping you off right by my favorite cafe in the city.
[A] Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation 臺灣菸酒公司 (1922)
[B] Presidential Office Building 總統府 (1919)
[C] National Taiwan Museum 國立臺灣博物館 (1915)
[D] Taipei Guest House 臺北賓館 (1901)
[E] National Taiwan University Hospital West Site 臺大醫學舊址 (1924)
[F] Jinan Presbyterian Church 濟南基督長老教會 (1916)
[G] The Control Yuan 監察院 (1915)
[A] Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation 臺灣菸酒公司 (1922)
The building was originally built for the “Monopoly Bureau Building” which controlled the trade of goods such as salt, camphor and matches in addition to tobacco and liquor. It was designed by Matsunosuke Moriyama (森山松之助) and first completed in 1912, the pointed tower was later added in 1922.
✏️ Design Notes: First you might notice the dome and columns at the entrance which are common references to classical architecture. Then the round pediment above the dome and baroque style details. There is also a small bull-eye window (circular-shaped below the triangle pediment on the left) which you will see widely use in other baroque style buildings in Taiwan from this era. Lastly, the use of red bricks with contrasting white lines are also a distinctive characteristic of Victorian style architecture.
[B] Presidential Office Building 總統府 (1919)
The Presidential Office Buildings is probably one of the most iconic from this era. Spanning 140 meter in width and it’s tower reaching 60 meter in height, it was the tallest building in Taiwan when completed in 1919. When viewed from above, the building structure forms the letter sun (日) referring to Japan.
✏️ Design Notes: The Presidential Office was also designed by Matsunosuke Moriyama (森山松之助) and in the style of he’s teacher Tatsuno Kingo. Aside from the obvious use of red bricks, similar design can be found in columns, arches and bull-eye windows. The tower is further emphasized with use of gables and brackets in Baroque style. There is an overwhelming amount of detail in this monumental building to discover.
[C] National Taiwan Museum 國立臺灣博物館 (1915)
The National Taiwan Museum was built in memory of the fourth Governor-General of Taiwan Kodama Gentarō (兒玉源太郎) and he’s Head of Civilian Affairs, Gotō Shinpei (後藤新平). It was built by Ichiro Nomura (野村一郎), who had also studied at the Imperial College and designed the memorial in classical style. The building was later turned into the National museum displaying natural history of Taiwan and its specimens.
✏️ Design Notes: It wasn’t until this trip back that I notice the striking similarly between the museum and the Panthéon in Paris. Digging through my travel photos, I finally found this photo below on a cloudy November afternoon. The museum entrance stairs leads up to 6 doric columns and topped with the triangular gable. Behind the entrance is the eye-catching dome covered with copper which has over the years oxidized to green.
Temple of Hephaestus (Athens 415 BCE), Panthéon (Paris 1790)
[D] Taipei Guest House 臺北賓館 (1901)
Taipei Guest House was also built by Ichiro Nomura (野村一郎) and was originally used as the Governor-General’s residence. The residence takes up an entire block, it includes a Japanese-style garden and large fish pond, wrapped around by high walls and trees for privacy. It was later converted into the Guest House for hosting foreign guests by the Foreign Ministry. The building is now open to the public on weekends for tours and visits, see their website here.
✏️ Design Notes: It’s most distinctive features are the Mansard roofs which were hugely popular in France during the Second French Empire under Napoleon the third. The Mansard roofs were originally built with wooden tiles but was consumed by termite after a decade and was then replaced with stone tiles.
The Guest House was so heavily influenced by French-style you could see the resemblance from Versailles, the Louvre and even d'Orsay Museum.
Palace of Versailles (Paris 1661)
Musée d'Orsay (Paris 1900), The Louvre (Paris 1793)
[E] NTU Hospital West Site 臺大醫學舊址 (1924)
The hospital took a total of 10 years to build, when completed it was the largest hospital in the eastern parts of Asia. It continues to operate as a hospital today and connects to the new building through an underground walkway. Growing up in Taipei, I’ve visited the hospital for countless reasons — from head injury to skin allergies — but among the chaos never noticed its beauty.
At the entrance, you will first notice the elevated stairs which was designed to keep out moisture as Taipei is prone to rain all year round. Then you’ll notice the four pairs of columns in Roman Tuscan order and balcony above creating a grand entrance where cars can drive through and drop off their patients. Inside the entrance, you will be greeted with an two-story high skylight lobby. Behind the lobby is a courtyard, allowing sunlight into the hallways and wards — designed for hygienic and therapeutic purposes.
✏️ Design Notes: The NTU hospital is built in very similar style to Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation and the Presidential Office with its red bricks and white stripes. It was designed by Juro Kondo (近藤十郎) who had also built the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in Ximen which was completed 6 years prior to the hospital construction began. Note the extensive decorative details such as cartouche embellished with flowers and fruits, the grapes hanging off composite columns and wheel-like design on the bull-eye windows.
[G] The Control Yuan 監察院 (1915)
This is another Baroque style building designed by Matsunosuke Moriyama (森山松之助) for the original Taipei City Hall. He had also designed the city hall for Taichung and Tainan as pictured below. Similar to NTU hospital, it also adopts the paired tuscan column design. Above the balcony and arched windows is the eye-catching dome in Byzantium style.
Tainan City Hall now the National Museum of Taiwan Literature (1910)
✏️ Design Notes: The Control Yuan building features details in all the above mentioned baroque style architecture — bull-eye window, cartouche, arched windows, mansard roofs with dormer windows, pediments and columns.
[F] Jinan Presbyterian Church 濟南基督長老教會 (1916)
The church is built in simplified gothic style with a smaller glass window at the front and pointed windows on the sides. Use of red bricks differentiate from medieval Europe gothic cathedrals which usually use pale grey limestone.
✏️ Design Notes: Smaller details referring to gothic architecture can also be noticed in the four leaf clover above the entrance and the archivolt design above the door.
Cathédrale Saint-André (Bordeaux 14th century)
🥐 Cafe recommendation - Wood x White Café (link)
Always end the walk with a nice cup of coffee and maybe dessert to rest your legs and warm your soul. My favorite near Taipei Main station is Wood x White Café (木白甜點咖啡店). I tried their yuzu Americano with lemon tart — the perfect combination of bitter and sweet. The decor is simple with warm wooden tones and spacious tables for reading, they are also known for their matcha cakes and tarts.
Looking at architecture is like learning a new language — first you learn the vocabulary then you start recognizing the same words in sentences and books. Just like learning distinctive characteristic of different architecture styles you start to recognize them in buildings in every city — soon the world becomes your classroom for architecture history and you are your own professor.
Subscribe to follow my latest discoveries and be the first to receive my walking guides!
References:
台灣建築史綱, 林會承, 徐明福, 博朝卿著 (2022)
台灣深度旅遊手冊 5, 台北古城之旅, 莊展鵬主編 (1992)
All photos rights reserved by author, do not republish without permission.