Taiwan Education Association Hall (228 National Memorial Museum)

The Taiwan Education Association Hall (台灣教育會館) was completed in 1931 in the Nanhai Campus area of Taipei's Zhongzheng District. Designed by Ide Kaoru (井手薰), the chief architect of the Taiwan Governor-General's Office Construction Section, the building exemplifies the early modernist architectural style that was gaining influence in 1930s Taiwan. Its L-shaped floor plan features a setback corner design, a three-story reinforced concrete structure clad in grooved ceramic tiles from the Beitou Kiln, and geometric ornamentation characteristic of the transition from historicist to modernist architecture.

During the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945), the building served as the headquarters of the Taiwan Education Association (台灣教育會), a body established by the Governor-General to oversee and promote colonial education policy. It became Taiwan's first modern-scale arts and cultural exhibition venue, hosting lectures, educational exhibitions, film screenings, and art shows—including serving as a venue for the Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition (台展). The building was an important window through which Taiwanese society engaged with modern art and global cultural currents during the colonial era.

As Japan escalated its war effort in the late 1930s and 1940s, the building was increasingly used for wartime propaganda, Kōminka (皇民化) movement activities, and mobilization campaigns. It served as a venue for rallies, ideological lectures, and cultural events designed to promote Japanese imperial loyalty and support the war effort during the Pacific War.

Following Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945, the Nationalist government appointed Chen Yi as Taiwan Provincial Administrative Chief. The spacious Taiwan Education Association Hall was requisitioned to house the newly formed Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council (台灣省參議會). Thirty elected provincial councilors, including prominent figures such as Huang Chao-chin, Lin Hsien-tang, and Wang Tien-teng, convened here to question the provincial administration. When the February 28 Incident erupted in 1947, several councilors associated with this building became victims—Wang Tien-teng was arrested and killed, Lin Lien-tsung disappeared, and others were detained. The building thus became a direct witness to the political tragedy that shaped postwar Taiwan.

From 1958, the building housed the United States Information Service (USIS) and later the American Cultural Center, serving as an important cultural bridge during the Cold War era. After the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, the center continued to operate until 2002. The building was designated a Taipei City historic site in 1993. In 2006, the Executive Yuan approved its conversion into the National 228 Memorial Museum, which was inaugurated on February 28, 2011, after extensive restoration work completed between 2007 and 2009. Today it serves as a memorial and educational institution dedicated to preserving the memory of the 228 Incident and promoting transitional justice.