Before you stretches one of Taiwan's most recognisable buildings: red brick, bands of white stone and a central tower that for a long time dominated the city skyline. Today it houses the presidency, but it was born as something quite different.

1The governors' palace

After 1895 the Japanese administration moved temporarily into the old Qing government offices. For a new headquarters it held a competition, won by the architect Nagano Uheiji; in Tokyo the design was revised and the tower made taller. Work began in 1912 and ended in 1919. The facade was turned to the east, towards the rising sun. Seen from the air, the floor plan with its two inner courtyards traces the character 日, «sun», often read as an allusion to Japan.

2Bombs, rebuilding and new names

On 31 May 1945 an Allied air raid hit the building and the fire burned for days. It was restored in 1947–1948 and, as this coincided with Chiang Kai-shek's sixtieth birthday, it was named Jieshou Hall. Since 1950 it has housed the Office of the President.

The boulevard in front of you was once called Jieshou Road; in 1996 it was renamed Ketagalan, after the Indigenous people who lived on this plain.

Today the boulevard is also a stage for parades, concerts and demonstrations.

3What to look for

  • The central tower, aligned with the boulevard.
  • The white bands across the brick, in the British-inspired style of the period.
  • The corner pavilions, with their small domes.
1974 colour photograph of the Presidential Office Building, then called Jieshou Hall, with cars parked in front
The building in 1974, when it was still called Jieshou Hall.

Documented

Designed by Nagano Uheiji and built between 1912 and 1919 as the seat of the Japanese Government-General; damaged in an air raid on 31 May 1945, it was restored in 1947–1948 and has been the presidential office since 1950.

Sources and credits

Office of the President, history of the building (official website); Bureau of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, listing for the former Government-General building; Li Qianlang, «Guide to the Historic Monuments of Taipei» (1998).

Photos:

  • Taipei's Presidential Office Building, red brick with white bands and a tall central tower, at the end of Ketagalan Boulevard: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • 1974 colour photograph of the Presidential Office Building, then called Jieshou Hall, with cars parked in front: kanegen, CC BY 2.0.

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