Bank of Taiwan Building

Bank of Taiwan Building

The Bank of Taiwan building was built in 1924, covering an area of 904 square meters. It has a reinforced concrete structure with modern Japanese western style. At the same time, it has widely absorbed the advantages of other countries' buildings. For example, the East facade is equipped with four European classical columns, which endows the building with European classical style.

Basic information

Bank of Taiwan Building

File number: a4939

Original name: Bank of Taiwan Building

Address: No.16, East 1st Road, Zhongshan

Current user: China Merchants Bank Shanghai Branch

Design unit: Dehe foreign company

Design date: November 1924

Completion date: April 1927

Total volume: 4 volumes

Introduction to architecture

Bank of Taiwan Building (China Merchants Bank building). China Merchants Bank building is a modern western style building in Japan, which was originally built by

Bank of Taiwan building is now China Merchants Bank building.

No. 16 on the Bund used to be the Bank of Taiwan building opened by Japanese businessmen. The early Bank of Taiwan building was an East Indian style building built in the last century. It was demolished and rebuilt in 1924. The reconstructed building is designed by German and foreign company and adopts modern Japanese western architectural style. It is characterized by widely absorbing the advantages of various countries' buildings and integrating various architectural styles. It is similar to the modern architecture in Osaka and Yokohama. After liberation, it was renamed the craft building.

Taiwan bank was established in Taipei after Taiwan became a Japanese colony. In 1911, Japan set up a branch in Shanghai. After the victory of the Anti Japanese War, the KMT government transferred the Bank of Taiwan to the Shanghai Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China. The earliest Bank of Taiwan building was an East Indian style building, which was demolished and rebuilt in 1924. The current building was built in 1924 with only four floors. It is a modern western style building in Japan. At the same time, it absorbs the advantages of other countries' buildings. There are four European classical columns on the East facade, which makes it have the style of European classical architecture. The whole building is in the shape of big and small, with a sense of stability, echoing the Dongfeng Hotel around.

architectural style

Bank of Taiwan building, 16 Bund, built in 1924. Reinforced concrete structure is a building with modern Japanese western style. At the same time, it absorbs the advantages of other countries' buildings and becomes a mixture of various styles.

It used to be a Japanese Commercial Bank, called "Bank of Taiwan". After Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895, Japan immediately opened many banks in Taiwan, among which the bank named after "Taiwan" was one of the largest. Bank of Taiwan was headquartered in Taipei. In 1911, Japan set up a branch in Shanghai. After the victory of the Anti Japanese War, the KMT government confiscated the Bank of Taiwan as enemy property and put it under the ownership of Shanghai Branch of Agricultural Bank of China.

The early Bank of Taiwan was an East Indian style building, which was demolished and rebuilt in 1924 because its Gables were not strong enough, its safety performance was not ideal, and it did not meet the requirements of modern banks. Now the building covers an area of 904 square meters, reinforced concrete structure, only four stories high, the main facade is East (facing the Huangpu River), and there are four thick European classical style columns, three and four stories of obvious height

It is smaller than the first and second floors, and basically adopts flat arch window frames. The whole building looks like a big one at the bottom and a small one at the top from a distance, with a sense of stability.

Although the building is not a masterpiece, its distinctive architectural style is quite different. It is full of European classical architectural style, which reminds people of Dongfeng Hotel, which is known as "Oriental London" (see Shanghai Bund No.2 - Shanghai Federation for details). The internal or external connection between these buildings makes the Bund architecture particularly harmonious and unified, and establishes an overall aesthetic feeling.

At present, the building is the office building of China Merchants Bank and Shanghai Arts and crafts import and export company.

Address: No.16, Zhongshan East 1st Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, China

Longitude: 121.49038696289

Latitude: 31.23791796265