Taipei Zhongshan Hall Introduction
The Taipei Zhongshan Hall, formerly known as the Taipei Public Assembly Hall, was built in 1936 and designed by Kaoru Ide, the chief architect of the Governor-General's Office during the Japanese colonial period. The overall design is grand and elegant, making it one of the few large public buildings in Taiwan at that time. After Taiwan's restoration in 1945, it was renamed “Zhongshan Hall.” In 1949, when the government relocated to Taiwan, Zhongshan Hall served as the assembly hall of the National Assembly and the Legislative Yuan. In 1969, it was returned to the Taipei City Government and came under the jurisdiction of the Civil Affairs Bureau. In 1992, it was designated as a national second-class historical site by the Ministry of the Interior; in 1995, the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act was amended and it was classified as a city-designated historical site under the Taipei City Government. In 1999, Zhongshan Hall was transferred to the Cultural Affairs Bureau, where the Main Hall and the Restoration Hall became one of the city's key venues for performing arts, hosting events such as the Taipei Traditional Arts Festival, the Children's Arts Festival, and the Taipei Film Festival annually. In 2011, the internal spaces of Zhongshan Hall underwent renovations, adding exhibition rooms, the Taipei Academy, cultural salons, and more, fully opening to the public and transforming into a multifunctional venue for education, arts, and leisure in Taipei City. In 2019, it was upgraded to a national historical site by the Ministry of Culture.
