【Introduction】

In the 32nd year of Emperor Meiji (1899), a Japanese aristocrat named Sameshima Mori established a brick factory in the suburbs of Sankuaicuo of Kaohsiung. It is the first brick plant of Kaohsiung. Later in the Taisho regime, Taiwan was in a period of rapid economic growth; because business was booming, the influx of housing developments across the island prompted a great demand for masonry. In the 2nd year of Taisho (1913), Ushiroku Shintaro founded “Taiwan Renka Kaishya” (Taiwan Brick & Tile Co.) in the Akashicho district of downtown Taipei. He conglomerated all the brick factories in Taiwan, including the one founded by Sameshima, and restructured them into branches of the company based on their respective locations. After World War II, the brick factory was incorporated into the Department of Mining Engineering of the Taiwan Provincial Governor's Office, renamed the Kaohsiung Brick Factory & Mining Company. In 1957, the plant was purchased by Tang Eng Iron Works Co., Ltd., receiving a new name as the Tang Eng Brick Factory. But due to a drastic reduction in the demand for bricks, the factory ceased production in 1985. The well-preserved facilities include: a Hoffman kiln, three down-draught kilns, an experimental kiln, a tunnel kiln, two brick funnels, and an office building. The factory witnessed the wax and wane of the brick industry and the new developments of architectural technology. Its preservation has a great value to the evolution of industrial cultures.

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