Nangang Bottle Cap Factory – The Last Legacy Cluster Along Taipei’s Railway Line

Photo & Text by640

I finally made it to the Nangang Bottle Cap Factory. This is its last opening of the year, and no one knows when it might be demolished.
Under the banner of economic development, how much of our cultural heritage can we still preserve?
If one day there are no more traces of development on our land, that will be the most regrettable sorrow.

Have you ever thought about it? Taipei’s major cultural parks – Songshan Tobacco Factory, Huashan, Wanhua Sugar Factory… and today’s Nangang Bottle Cap Factory – have you noticed what they all have in common?

Wanhua, Songshan, and Nangang are all stops on the Taipei railway. Huashan once had a train station, which has now been closed. Songshan Tobacco Factory, Huashan, Wanhua Sugar Factory… these were all industrial facilities closely linked to the railway, with goods transported by train.

The old Taipei railway line, from Wanhua Sugar Factory Cultural Park, Huashan, Songshan 1914 Cultural and Creative Park (former Taipei Distillery), Taipei Brewery (former Takasago Beer Brewery), to Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (former Monopoly Bureau Tobacco Factory) and Nangang Bottle Cap Factory (former National Cork Industry Co., Ltd.), formed a complete industrial chain along the railway.

Of the cultural assets along Taipei’s former main railway line, the first few were preserved thanks to historical opportunities and have thrived in creative industry development. However, the Nangang Bottle Cap Factory hasn’t been so lucky—the decision to demolish or preserve it is still uncertain.

Most of the historic and cultural sites in the Nangang area have been flattened, including the Songshan Brick Factory and Nangang Tire Factory. The Bottle Cap Factory is the only remaining place that witnesses Nangang’s culture.

When a place loses its historical assets, it’s like being uprooted—severed from the historical connections of its roots.

%The Nangang Bottle Cap Factory, if not protected, will just become another nameless “urban renewal” victim.