Danan Library Introduction
Passing by the Luguang Four Villages, this building that resembles a school auditorium, with its red bricks and green window frames, along with the era-reflecting characters of "Zhongzheng Hall," is hard to resist stopping and admiring. This place used to be a cinema according to the older locals and was remodeled into the Taoyuan City Library Daan Branch in 2011, becoming a cultural space promoting arts and literature. In 1964, the Ministry of National Defense's Army Headquarters established a cultural, recreational, and health center here, providing a venue for officers, their families, and Daan residents to enjoy films. Today, the Daan Library, which carries the living memories of local residents, still retains the features of 1950s military industrial architecture. The original ticket booth has transformed into a mail delivery and book return area, while the facade facing Chongqing Street exhibits a symmetrical design, complemented by pebble-washed mountain-shaped walls, creating a modern architectural aesthetic through minimalist lines. Stepping inside, the undulating floor, rows of seating, and the film projection holes on the wall guide travelers back to the cinema era. At the center of the first floor is a multimedia screening room that continues the imagery of the old cinema, while the second floor's restored exhibition area houses old roof tiles from Zhongzheng Hall and film projection tubes, with historical restoration information displayed on the wall. Another highlight of the library is the Fink-style steel frame rooftop, where the interlaced steel structure adds a vintage industrial feel to the old building. Climbing up to the attic offers a much stronger sense of visual tension looking down. The two-story high design creates a transparent and unconfined atmosphere inside; in addition to the reading area, even the window sills are cushioned, allowing visitors to leisurely immerse themselves in the vast sea of books anytime and anywhere.
