Shin Kong Life Tower (), at 51 stories and a height of , is one of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
's earliest
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
s. The rose-colored tower topped by a pyramid stands in
Zhongzheng District
Zhongzheng District (also Jhongjheng District) is a District (Taiwan), district in Taipei. It is home to most of the national government buildings of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan), including the Presidential Office Building, Taipei, P ...
,
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
, and dates from 1993. Its first twelve floors and two underground floors house a
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi
is an international department store chain with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, which also owns the Isetan department store chain.
History
It was founded in 1673 with the (shop name) , selli ...
Department Store; the remaining floors provide office space and serve as headquarters for the
Shin Kong Life insurance company. The building stands across Zhongxiao Road from
Taipei Main Station
Taipei Main Station () is a railway and metro station in Taipei, Taiwan. It is served by Taiwan High Speed Rail, the Taiwan Railways Administration, and the Taipei Metro. It is also connected through underground passageways to the terminal sta ...
near the Asiaworld Department Store.
The Shin Kong Life Tower was Taiwan's tallest building when it opened in 1993. The twin towers of the nearby
Far Eastern Plaza, built at the same time, approached it in height. In 1997 the
Tuntex 85 Sky Tower in the city of
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
became Taiwan's tallest. New height records were then set by
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
in 2004.
Design and construction
The site currently occupied by the Shin Kong Life Tower was home to the luxurious Taiwan Railway Hotel from 1908 to 1945 when it was destroyed by allied bombing. The hotel was the most luxurious in Taiwan and mostly served a Japanese and foreign clientele.
The 10,000-square-meter plot of land across from Taipei Main Station was owned by four companies in 1981 when discussions began about ways to develop the site. Agreement on a plan was never reached and ownership of the land passed to two companies in 1985. The company that held the eastern half, Asiaworld International Group, built the Asiaworld Department Store on its parcel; the store opened in 1990. The company that held the western half, Shin Kong Life Insurance Company, hired Kaku Morin Group (KMG) Architects and Engineers of
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
to build a dual-use tower that would house offices and a major department store.
Space limitations and heavy traffic at the site made the task a challenge. KMG created a 1,170-square-meter plaza around the tower by setting the front of the building 31 m back from the street and setting other sides back to allow wide pedestrian walkways. Inspectors from
National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan.
The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...
were consulted to help ensure the building's stability in earthquakes. The design featured an observatory level at the 46th floor. Separate elevators were installed to serve department store customers, office workers, and visitors to the observatory. Mindful of Taiwan's typhoons and tropical sun, designers used
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
for the exterior so it would weather well. The rose color chosen for the exterior was inspired by the national flowers of both Taiwan and Japan, the
plum blossom
''Prunus mume'' is an East Asian and Southeast Asian tree species classified in the ''Armeniaca'' section of the genus ''Prunus'' subgenus ''Prunus''. Its common names include Chinese plum, Japanese plum, and Japanese apricot. The flower, long ...
and
cherry blossom
A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...
, respectively.
Construction of the Shin Kong Life Tower began in 1989. The building was completed at a cost of US$270 million and opened in December 1993.
As a
design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
the Shin Kong Life Tower drew a shrug from
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
s in and beyond Taiwan. It was generally regarded as a rather plain and old-fashioned design with only height to offer as a distinguishing characteristic. Some saw a design flaw in the placement of retail and office entrances on the same side of the building. Architect Kaku Morin conceded that his design made no novel architectural statement but expressed satisfaction in producing a "healthy" structure. "Construction is as important as design," he told the ''Taiwan Review'' in 1995. "A building is like a human body--if it is not healthy, it is nothing no matter how beautiful it is."
Today
The Shin Kong Life Tower lived an especially bustling life in the decade after it opened. Its 46th-floor observatory, the highest in Taiwan at the time, opened to the public in 1994 under the management of TopView Taipei Observatory. Over the next twelve years the observatory hosted over four million visitors. The number of guests dropped dramatically after
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
opened a new observatory at nearly twice the height in January 2005, however, and TopView closed when the company's lease expired in December 2006.
[ Taiwan Headlines. Retrieved 2007-08-25.] Now the 46th-floor observatory is occupied by Naturally-Plus as their headquarters for Taiwan operation and the entrance is free of charge for their members.
Other retailers in the building continue to maintain a busy existence. The location of the tower across from Taipei Main Station ensures heavy pedestrian traffic along the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi and Asiaworld storefronts. Weekdays find the streets filled with students attending '
cram schools
A cram school, informally called crammer and colloquially also referred to as test-prep or exam factory, is a specialized school that trains its students to achieve particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high scho ...
' in the area. Weekends find Taipei residents enjoying outdoor concerts in the plaza or on the grounds of the nearby station.
Nomenclature
English speakers sometimes refer to the Shin Kong Life Tower as the "Mitsukoshi Building" because that store's name appears on the tower's exterior. This invites confusion, though, as the store operates in more than one location. Taipei 101 has its own Shin Kong Mitsukoshi outlet facing Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Square.
Transportation
The tower is accessible within walking distance south west of
Taipei Railway Station
Taipei Main Station () is a railway and metro station in Taipei, Taiwan. It is served by Taiwan High Speed Rail, the Taiwan Railways Administration, and the Taipei Metro. It is also connected through underground passageways to the terminal sta ...
.
See also
*
List of tallest buildings in Taiwan
This list of skyscrapers in Taiwan ranks skyscrapers in Taiwan by height. The tallest building in Taiwan is currently the 101–story Taipei 101, which rises and was completed in 2004. It was officially classified as the world's tallest from 2 ...
*
List of tallest buildings in Taipei
This list of tallest buildings in Taipei ranks skyscrapers in the Taiwanese capital region of Greater Taipei by height, which includes the cities of Taipei City and New Taipei City, hereafter simply referred to as Taipei.
The first building t ...
References
External links
Emporis.com - Shin Kong Life TowerSkycraperPage.com – Shin Kong Life Tower
{{Skyscrapers in Taiwan
1993 establishments in Taiwan
Office buildings completed in 1993
Skyscraper office buildings in Taipei