Department of Cultural Affairs

The Red House, Ximen

The Red House, a two-story Western-style red-brick octagonal structure in Taipei's Ximen (“West Gate") district built in 1908, was one of Taiwan's first new-style markets of the early Japanese colonial period, designed by Kindo Jyuro, an architect in the prefectural civil engineering office at the time. In 1896 it was first built as a simple wooden marketplace outside Taipei's West Gate; the red brick building, incorporating both octagonal and cruciform shapes, was formally erected in 1908. At the time, it was called the Xinqi Street Market, serving residents of Taipei in the vicinity of the West Gate. The other markets built during the same period were all eventually replaced; only the Red House of Ximen remains, making it highly valuable for the modern history of Taiwan's popular culture and construction industry.
The Red House was originally called the “market octagon." Its design is quite unique, with walls of red brick, floors of steel-reinforced concrete, and a roof built on a reinforced steel frame. The original market sold flowers, books, medicine, Japanese preserves and local Taiwanese produce. During major festivals, it also served as a bustling dry goods market. After World War II, it served first as a storytelling hall, and then as a theater. On February 20, 1997, the Red House of Ximen was designated Taipei City's 30th official historical site. It has currently been restored to its original appearance. The first floor serves as a venue for the arts, and the second floor serves as a theater, giving this historic landmark a new, elegant aura of culture.