Presidential Office Building

This guide to the Presidential Office Building in Taipei opens with a 1906 architecture contest run by Japan's colonial government, whose original winning design was disqualified for resembling a building already under construction in the Netherlands. You'll hear how the runner-up's blueprints were handed to another architect who enlarged the plan, and how American bombers struck the building on May 31, 1945. Notice the red brick facade and central tower as you take it in.