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The island cafe
1. History of the island café:
A. Prosperous ˇ§alleysˇ¨ in Taipei
In 1895, Taiwan entered the Japanese colonial period.
The Japanese government made plans for city development
of Taipei. Within the plan, they designated an area for
Japanese people to live in. This area was surrounded by
todayˇ¦s Zhongshan north road, Nanjing east road and
Citizen boulevard, where existed ten alleys of east-west
direction. These were the most prosperous alleys in
Taipei.
B. The building of island café:
This alley, where the island café locates, used to be
called ˇ§second alleyˇ¨ during Japanese colonial period.
The building was built in 1925 and owned by a famous
Japanese photographer for his residence.
C. Dormitory of Police:
After 1945, the building was retrieved by government and
had been used for the dormitory of police for a long
time.
2. Architectural structures:
Later, this building
was bought by an architect Mr. Yong-Nan Zhong and his
friends. They hope to preserve the architectural style
of this building and recreate the atmosphere of Japanese
colonial period for younger generations to appreciate.
The renovation of historical buildings has many
difficulties to overcome.
This two-story building was built with traditional
Japanese wooden structure, with traditional Japanese
wooden frames, elevated wooden floor, mortar made walls
with bamboo support. Before the renovation, the
appearance of this building has already lost its
traditional Japanese style. Many wooden walls and
structures were already rotten and not able to use
anymore. Termites have also seriously damaged the wooden
structures of this building.
Renovation points are preserving and enhancing the style
of traditional Japanese residence. They restore the
original appearance of wooden weatherboard cladding,
lattice windows and flower shelves. By tearing down
unwanted interior decorations, it reveals the beautiful
wooden structures of the original design and brings out
the historical sensation of the wooden building.
For the renaissance of the historical building, they use
the first floor to open a coffee shop, and second floor
for office. It gives a new life to this beautiful
building.
Reference source:
official website of
the island café
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