Wenmenglou - Architectural Features

Architectural Appearance Features

The architectural form of Wenmeng Building is a shophouse building with a purlin on a hard mountain, meaning bearing the load on the gable, a wooden round truss was placed on the gable, and a groove was left on the edge of the gable. The round truss was inserted into the wall and directly across the gables on both sides.
Its structure is composed of beams, columns and walls. Multiple wooden trusses perpendicular to the walls to support the floor and roof. The indoor floor was made of wood, and the houses were built with mixed materials such as red brick, earth-corner brick, stone and wood to load the bearing wall.

In response to the humid and rainy climate in Taiwan, a continuous arcade with a width of 6.5 feet is reserved on the first floor near the road. The window on the second floor adopts the "four-column three-room style". The columns between the windows are made of red bricks tile, and the brows of the windows are made of red bricks laid on flat. The eaves of the windows are raised to avoid the infiltration of rainwater.

The surface material is a combination of yellow-green Tapestry Tile and yellow-brown washed stone, which is the mainstream style of contemporary architecture. The colors used in modern buildings in Japan after the earthquake are mostly related to the appearance and colors of modern buildings in Europe and America, and are especially influenced by the exterior wall colors of tawny, black and other grassland colors used in American buildings. The exterior of the building has simple lines and no other decorations. Its structure conforms to building regulations and commercial patterns, reflecting the background of the times at that time. Because of its exterior features, it can be summed up as a product after the wave of modernism.

Exterior Facade

(文萌樓外牆淺綠色國防磚)

(文萌樓外觀店面實況)

Face Brick Style

At that time, militarism was prevalent. In order to strengthen combat readiness, the exterior of buildings was encouraged to use face bricks with air defense protection colors and surface bumps that scatter light to avoid reflections, such as light green, khaki and brown, commonly known as "defense bricks".

Design of Store Front

The public prostitution hall can clearly see the movement inside and outside the house through the window effect of the large open windows and lattice iron windows. This is also the unique interior design of general public prostitution halls in Datong District, with the addition of cast iron lattice windows and the use of large areas of glass as the interface.

Facade decoration

Corbel

The corbel, also known as the bracket, extends from the column and has the function bearing the weight of the arcade above opening’s R.C beam. It is a functional architectural decorative object

House Body and Roof

House body

• load-bearing wall：Built with clear water standard brick size (23*11*6), the wall thickness is 1.5B (B is the basic unit of masonry in the building, here, 1B is 23cm), and the ash joint is 1cm.

• Reinforced brick construction of rear patio：In the original patio at the back of the main building, ancillary spaces such as kitchen and bathroom are added. The structure is not continuous with the main building. The main beam-column system is made of reinforced concrete, the wall is made of red brick, and the exterior is painted with cement mortar.

Roof

• Roofing and construction：
It consists the roof support members and waterproof surface layer of a two-pitched roof (a ridge in the middle, and the left and right inclined roofs). The roof waterproofing is made of curved red slabs and tiles. The tiles are staggered facing down and facing up. The upward facing one forms a protrusion, and the downward facing one forms a channel.

(屋面「硬山擱檁」工法之圓桁、椽條、望磚)

(屋面防水鋪面實景)

Indoor compartment and ventilation floor

1. indoor compartment

The practice space in the front and middle section of the first floor and the bedrooms on the second floor all use gypsum board as a partition material, which was re-worked for the buffer period of abolished prostitutes ( ROC 88). Floral wallpaper is pasted on the wall, which has been yellowing and aging due to time. The partition of the additional part of the patio is made of brick walls, and the inside of the wall is made of bricks, commonly known as the eight-inch wall.
The interior is separated by light compartments, with light-yellow wallpaper on the walls, and the wallpaper is decorated with prints. The phone number of the Datong Branch is written on the wallpaper of the stair compartment from the first floor to the second floor, showing the relationship between the public prostitute and the police.

The steps of the stairs on the back side of the building are paved with TR red bricks, and the prismatic mesh pattern on the surface is conducive to strong and close adhesion with the cement, but it is not common as a step, it also has an anti-slip effect

(室內隔間壁紙近照)

(後側TR紅磚樓梯照)

2. Wooden Attic

Since the roof adopts two slopes, the triangular space formed inside is made of wooden purlin system, and then paved with slender planks to make attic, which is mostly used for storage or living space.

(木造閣樓實景圖)

3. Ventilation Building

The roof is equipped with a ventilation building structure, and windows are provided on both sides to facilitate indoor ventilation.

(屋面鐵皮及通氣樓現況)

An overview of space usage in Wenmenglou

(一樓平面圖)

At present, the existing space form of Wenmenglou has been changed several times, such as changing the compartment, adding cover, repairing the roof, etc., but the main spatial organization has not changed much.
A 1.68-meter arcade is set along the street of Wenmenglou. As a result of the urban correction during the Japanese occupation period, the large area of opening windows has become the most attractive facade in the past. The living room, working room and equipment space are connected by a longitudinal passage. The space level is clear and orderly, and the equipment space at the rear of the house includes the kitchen, water tank, storage space, and bathroom. The second floor is the private room, the residence of the prostitute manager, and the short-term dormitory of the ladies.

(一樓平面圖)

(二樓平面圖)

Architectural interior features

A 1.68-meter arcade is set along the street of Wenmenglou. As a result of the urban correction during the Japanese occupation period, the large area of opening windows has become the most attractive facade in the past. The living room, working room and equipment space are connected by a longitudinal passage. The space level is clear and orderly, and the equipment space at the rear of the house includes the kitchen, water tank, storage space, and bathroom.

The second floor is the private room, the residence of the prostitute manager, and the short-term dormitory of the ladies.