Building National Taiwan Museum (1915)- Perspectives on the West in Taiwan under Japanese Rule

Abstract

國立臺灣博物館是臺灣唯一不僅保留了其原本歷史主義形式的建物，而且繼續履行其最初展覽館功能的日治時期官方建築。為了紀念日本第四任總督兒玉源太郎（Gentarō Kodama，1852–1906年）和民政長官後藤新平（Shinpei Gotō，1857–1929年）任內對臺灣的貢獻，日本殖民政府在臺北於1915年建造了這座當時名為臺灣總督府博物館的建築。開館時其功能為一自然史博物館，收藏並展示臺灣的自然歷史文物。而博物館所在地點，通過直視軸（今館前路）與當時的臺北火車站相連，兩者都是20世紀初台北市區結構中令人印象深刻的地標。這座對稱的博物館建築展現了歷史主義風格的融合，中央由一個方形空間和圓頂組成，連接的兩個側翼，底端各有一個方形的樓閣，顯然受到了西方建築模型的影響。博物館的代表性地點及其新古典主義的外觀表明了日本殖民政府試圖通過建造這樣的建築物，向世界展示進步文明的形象，而使其在臺灣的殖民政權合法化。 然而，儘管具有如此的歷史價值，在文獻上對臺博館建築物的形式和結構仍未進行實質性的分析；也缺乏其源自西方建築具體來源的深入研究。為了能更好地理解建築物的結構並尋查可能影響其最終形式的來源，本論文將首先闡明臺博館的歷史背景，而這意味著要對當時的歷史文獻進行分析。在此一過程中，尤其將特別注意博物館建築設計師野村一郎（Ichirō Nomura，1868–1942）在1910年前往歐美，尤其是倫敦和紐約，的旅程中，可能看到過哪些建築物而成為影響臺博館建築設計的參考原型。最後，對於日本殖民政府在博物館內紀念兩位高官和其背後所隱含的英雄崇拜之面向也將納入討論；而博物館作為紀念館的起源將受到詳細的檢視。The National Taiwan Museum is the only exhibition venue in the country that not only has widely preserved its original historicist form, but continues to fulfill its initial function as an exhibition venue. The Japanese colonial government in Taiwan constructed this building in 1915 to commemorate Japan’s fourth Viceroy, Gentarō Kodama (1852–1906), and to honor the Chief Civil Administrator, Shinpei Gotō (1857–1929). The Taiwan Viceroy’s Office Museum (臺灣總督府博物館), as it was then called, was founded by the Japanese government as a museum of natural history. The site chosen was linked by a straight visual axis with the Taipei Railway Station, both serving as impressive landmarks within the urban fabric of early-20th-century Taipei. Displaying a historicist mixture of styles, the symmetrical building, which is composed of one central block with a dome on top and two connecting wings with a square pavilion at each end, was obviously influenced by models of Western architecture. The museum’s representative location and its neo-classical façade show that by creating such a building, the Japanese colonial government tried to legitimize its regime in Taiwan by presenting a progressive and civilized image toward the world. Albeit its historical value, substantial analysis of the building’s form and structure has not yet been undertaken. In-depth research into concrete sources stemming from Western architecture is also lacking. In order to better understand the building’s structure and to find the sources, which might have influenced its final form, the present thesis will, initially, clarify the historical background of the project, which implies an analysis of written sources from the time. Special attention will be paid to the question, which museum buildings architect Ichirō Nomura (1868–1942) had possibly seen during a journey undertaken to the West, and to London and New York, in particular, and which of these could have been models for the Taiwan Viceroy’s Office Museum. Finally, the aspect of commemorating two highly decorated dignitaries of the Japanese colonial government in the museum and the respective hero cult will be taken into account. The origins of a museum as memorial will be under close scrutiny.