We spent a few hours before sundown in the Songyan cultural and creative park 松山文創園區 in Taipei. A and F joined us.
Starting our walk from the brand new Eslite Hotel right next to the Park, there was such a contrast of the new and old. Loved the hotel lobby which is designed to resemble a spacious modern library with books lining the walls and high ceiling.
The Park was based on the “Taiwan Sōtokufu Tobacco Monopoly Bureau” created during the Japanese colonial period. It was the first modernized tobacco factory in Taiwan.
After some restoration, it was taken over by the Taiwan Monopoly Bureau and renamed the “Taiwanese Provincial Tobacco and Alcohol Monopoly Bureau Songshan Plant”.
In 2001, it was appointed by the Taipei City Government as the No. 99 cultural heritage site of the city and renamed the “Songshan Cultural and Creative Park”. In 2011, it is officially opened to the public and has been transformed into a creative hub of Taiwan.
According to its website, the architectural style of the buildings belongs to the genre of “Japanese Early Modernism”, with emphasis placed on horizontal lines, simple classic shapes, and refined workmanship. The boiler room, mechanical maintenance factory, and tobacco Factory were completed in 1939, and began producing rolled tobaccos with 1200 workers.
Apparently, the Park was not designed with a commercial focus, but rather, its mission is to kindle creativity and innovation, and to be in synch with interdisciplinary development.
We wandered into the complex and entered a number of shops that sells crafts and designed items.
Johannes Vermeer’s masterpiece reproduced by swatch tapes
Cafe and exhibition areas
Artifacts from the past. Cigarette packs and container wrappers.
Bright colored office equipment of yesteryears.
The concept of an “industrial village” was employed. Besides the production line, the benefits and needs of the plant’s employees were also taken into consideration.
With its large open spaces and courtyards, the site was a pioneering design for industrial plants at that time.
There are a number of statues in this courtyard. We are not keen on the rather tortured pose of this statue.
Nice fountain with more statues
A penguin amongst tropical flora ?
We were too late for the Taiwan Design Museum. The tropical vegetation is a nice contrast to the cool modern designs housed in the old building.
Tobacco storage barn now used as massive exhibition spaces.
Overlooking the park is the new 16-storey Eslite Hotel where we started, it looked stunning at dusk. The lights on the facade form several horizontal lines that appear to converge on the top left corner of the building. Sparkling, dynamic architecture.
Need more time here.