建築風華　

1919年3月，在長達七年的施工後，台灣總督府終於完工。這座巍峨聳立的巨大建物，標示出日本殖民台灣的新里程碑。這時，太陽旗已在島上飄揚了二十四個年頭。從1895年日本領台時起，台灣總督府當局便利用清朝布政使司西翼的籌防局權充府址（此處亦曾是台灣民主國總統府所在）。隨著殖民前景趨穩，1906年決定籌建新總督府，隨即開始公開徵求設計圖。1910年長野宇平治提設計案獲選。長野的設計後再經總督府營繕課的森山松之助送往東京加以修改，將原為六層樓高的中央塔改為十一層，並加強衛塔、角塔的設計。工程於1912年6月開始動工，至1919年3月完工，造價280萬日圓。

「台灣總督府始政第三十回紀念」風景明信片
新高山（玉山）背景下的總督府新、舊廳舍　1925年莊永明提供
A postcard commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Japanese rule of Taiwan: The new and old Offices of the Taiwan Governor-General, against the background of Mt. Jade 1925 (Courtesy of Chung Yung-ming)

從建物本身來看，主體部分高五層，中央塔十一層（高60公尺）：正面寬約140公尺，側面寬約85公尺，平面呈「日」字形，佔地面積達6.930平方公尺（2,100坪）。外觀上這棟以鋼筋混凝土建造的雄偉建物，因外部敷貼紅色面磚，並以洗石子水平飾帶作裝飾，紅白交襯出一種華麗、活潑的氣息，稍減了建築整體的僵硬呆板（被台人稱為「阿呆宮」）。另外，建物細部則取用了屬於近代西方文藝復興建築樣式中的柱式、山牆、拱廊、圓拱窗等配件，反映出日本自明治維新後，急欲追仿西方帝國強權的趨向。尤其，從總督府正面聳立的中央高塔來看，其威權集中、居高臨下的意象更是不言而喻。

1941年日本偷襲珍珠港，台灣也進入戰爭時期。1945年5月31日，美軍空襲總督府，從天而降的炮彈炸毀了正面左側、正門廊及北側的部分建築；轟炸後的四十五天，日本宣布投降，二次世界大戰結束。總督府因戰火受損，暫遭擱置。1947年年台灣省政府著手修復計劃，民間也發起捐款活動。修復工程投入人力多達801,009人次。修復後外觀與原貌略有不同。適逢蔣中正總統六十壽誕，故命名「介壽館」。1949年國民政府遷台，1950年起為總統府所在地。1998年7月，內政部公告總統府為國定古蹟，它的歷史意涵愈顯珍貴。

Architectural Style

After seven years of construction and 24 years after the Japanese flag first flew over the island, the Office of the President (formerly the Taiwan Governor-General's Office) was completed in March 1919. This imposing building towered high above colonial Taipei.

At the beginning of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan in 1895, its Governor-General, head of the colonial government on the island, temporarily set up his office at the former Ching dynasty secretariat in Taipei. As planning for colonial rule developed, the Japanese decided to build a new government administrative office and consequently held an architectural design contest in 1906.

In 1910, Uheiji Nagano's architectural design was selected for the Governor-General's office. Morinosuke Matsuyama of the general affairs section of the Governor-General's office delivered the design to Tokyo, where revisions were made, increasing the six-story central tower to 11 stories and improving the defense tower and corner towers. Construction began in June 1912 and was completed in March 1919 at a cost of 2.8 million Japanese Yen.

The building is a five-story structure with an 11-story central tower rising 60 meters above the ground. The main structure is 140 meters wide and 85 meters deep, with an area of 6,930 square meters (2,100 pings). Viewed from the top, the building is laid out in the form of the first character for the name of Japan (the Chinese character for "sun").

The presidential office is built of steel and concrete. Its outer walls are overlaid with red brick and decorated with horizontal lines of small white tiles. The alternating red and white pattern gives an air of splendor, energizing the rigid dullness of the building, although many still call it the "dull-looking house." The pillars, high walls, corridors, and arched windows were built in the western architectural style of the Restoration Period, an indication of Meiji Japan's imitation of Western imperial style. The central tower rising high in front of the building was indisputably intended to create the impression of centralized power and loftiness above the people.
Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Taiwan, as a Japanese colony, was also brought into the war and was subjected to extensive allied bombing. On May 31, 1945, during an American air raid on Taipei, bombs hit the front left side, main lobby, and northern sections of the Taiwan Governor-General's Office. The fire burned for three days, damaging large parts of the building. Forty-five days after the air raid, Japan surrendered, ending the Second World War.

On October 25, 1945, Taiwan was officially returned to the Republic of China, but the badly damaged Taiwan Governor-General's Office was not repaired until 1947, when the Taiwan Provincial Government initiated a restoration plan. A private donation movement was launched and the project began in September of that year, involving up to 81,009 workers. When completed at the end of 1948, the building looked slightly different. Since the timing coincided with the 60th birthday of President Chiang Kai-shek, it was renamed Chiehshou Hall. Beginning in mid-1949, it served as the southeast military affairs office, and following the relocation of the central government to Taiwan, it became the Office of the President in 1950.

In July 1998, the Ministry of the Interior declared the Office of the President as a national historic site. Once the relic of imperial power and a symbol of authoritarian rule, the building appears high and remote from the public, but its historic importance deserves recognition, for its history reflects the lives of the Taiwan people.

台灣總督府建築體部份有五層樓高，平面呈「日」字型
The building is a five-story strucoture and is laid out in the form of the first
character for the name of Japan (the Chinese character for"sun")