About C-LAB
Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB) was initiated in 2018 by the Taiwan Living Arts Foundation of the Ministry of Culture, to the aim of becoming the leading site of contemporary culture in Taiwan, with “innovation” as its core belief and directive. It is a vision for future experimentation and a nexus for international exchange, an imagining of a culture rooted in Asian and Taiwanese everyday experiences. On the other hand, it domestically serves as a physical incubation center for creative endeavors. The hope is to catalyze the interplay between all forms of creativity while developing an open and inclusive cultural landscape or social environment.
C-LAB’s location was once a military base. Before that, this site was home to the Taiwan Provincial Government’s Central Research Institute at Da’an, which took over from the Japanese colonial era Industrial Research Institute of the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office. In 1950, it became the Ministry of National Defense’s Air Force Command Headquarters. C-LAB is working in the public construction planning phase to carry out inventory of campus properties and revitalize usable space, opening up the site to cultural professionals and technical support teams who together participate in cross-disciplinary or interdisciplinary collaboration and co-creation. Through programs such as artistic cultural innovation experimentation, exhibitions, performances, screening events, cross-domain co-creation, international cultural exchange, educational promotion, and community service, as well as the establishment of innovative experimentation, new art and culture co-habitats, urban outdoor green space, and other multi-purpose facilities, we are building on a vision for continued socio-cultural experimentation and practice.
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Intermediate Mission
C-LAB launched a two-phase construction initiative in early 2018 for realizing a cultural laboratory by means of innovation in cultural development as well as revivifying spaces and facilities through hardware and software upgrades.
The first phase (2018-2019) entails site surveys and basic renovation, while carrying out various experimental plans and exhibitions to promote cross-domain collaboration and co-creation. The goal is to engage shared thinking in cultural experimentation and public participation, so that efforts can relate to the public on multiple technical and communal levels. Also in this phase, C-LAB engages in the Ministry of Culture's "Long-to-mid-term public infrastructure initiation plan".
The Phase II Project (2022-2024): The Executive Yuan approved the "Taiwan Contemporary Cultural Laboratory Phase II Overall Development Outline Plan (111-113 years) ," and C-LAB continues to develop in the direction of art experimentation, culture and technology, industrial clusters, and international exchanges, while the restoration of the monuments and their ancillary facilities, as well as the renovation of other buildings, are also ongoing.
Monument
In March 2024, the Ministry of Culture officially designated the former Air Force Command Headquarters site (originally built as the site of the Industrial Research Institute of the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office) as a national monument. The main part of the monument consists of two buildings, the Old Office Building and Political Warfare Building of the Taiwan Governor-General’s Industrial Research Institute. The monument bears witness to the trends of scientific research in the period of Japanese rule in Taiwan towards the advancement of industrial development and its role in Taiwan’s industrialization. After WWII, the facilities were taken over by the Governor Office of Taiwan Province and turned into the Taiwan Provincial Industrial Research Institute. In 1950, due to national defense dictates, the site assumed the new role of Air Force Command Headquarters, the highest military command center for Taiwan’s air defense and operations. The site also carries historical meaning in the periods of the Cold War and U.S. aid, housing military courts and detention facilities that are a testament to Taiwan’s human rights progression.
Ancillary Facilities of the Monument
There are 15 facilities including the Zhongzheng Hall, US-Aid Building, Communications Office, Document and Telegram Center, Military Affairs Office, air-raid shelters, sentry posts, bunkers ,the internal sentry post, and the main gate guard house and duty officer room named ancillary facilities of the monument.
Major Events
Industrial Research Institute of the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office
33,000 pings (equiv. to 109091 square meters) of land was acquired during the Japanese colonial period at the “Daan 12 jia” Administration Zone, for the establishment of the Industrial Research Institute. The Taiwan Governor-General’s Office prioritized the relocation of existing lab equipment, so procurement of the land and the building of Number 2 Hall (now C-LAB Old Office Building) became key projects in its Phase 1 Plan. The Building Construction Section of the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office was commissioned to build Number 2 Hall, with aspirations of building the largest scientific facility on the island and have it completed by 1944.
Front elevation and main entrance of Number 2 Hall in the early days of Taiwan’s retrocession. Photo: LIFE Magazine
Ministry of National Defense Occupancy Following Relocation of the Nationalist Government
From 1948 to 1949, the Government of the R.O.C. and personnel relocated to Taiwan, and with its priority towards national defense reassigned Industrial Research Institute premises as MND Ren-ai Base and later as Air Force Command Headquarters.
Air Force Command Headquarters, Ministry of National Defense (MND)
Air Force Command Headquarters was formally set up on this site in 1949 by the Ministry of National Defense, serving as the top commanding organization of air defense and combat in Taiwan. Research data from 1951 show that the organizational units of Air Force Command Headquarters included General Headquarters, Consul’s Office, Political Office, Supervisory Office, Statistics Office, Liaison Office, the First to Fifth Ministries, as well as 9 Corps of Adjutant, Air Defense, Communications, Meteorology, Finance, Medical Affairs, Construction, Military Justice, and General Services. Restructuring of the organizational hierarchy in later times resulted in a markedly different structure of the R.O.C. Air Force today.
Air Force Command Headquarters, MND in 1966. Photo: Air Force Command Headquarters, MND.
Taiwan Air Force Innovation Base
On October 5, 2012, Air Force Command Headquarters, MND was relocated to Zhong Yong Military Base in the Dazhi area of Zhongshan District, Taipei City. The Executive Yuan proceeded to revitalize the newly vacated site and named it “Taiwan Air Force Innovation Base” in 2015 by inviting organizations and groups across a variety of disciplines to participate in programs of youth entrepreneurship and social innovation.
The city government designated the Air Force Command Headquarters (the former Industrial Research Institute of the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office) as a monument and listed ten constructions as historic buildings.
Culture Lab Preparatory Group
In 2017, the Ministry of Culture tasked the “Culture Lab Preparatory Group” with transforming 7.15 hectares of land and buildings into a platform for future development of contemporary culture in Taiwan. Its mission is to establish the ecological and support systems necessary in the evolution of the site from a program of strategic military importance to that of culture.
Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB)
Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab was initiated in 2018 by the Taiwan Living Arts Foundation of the Ministry of Culture. Striving to become a new type of art and cultural organization, C-LAB explores the possible intersections of art, culture, technology, and society beyond the routine. C-LAB brings the public closer to the campus by creating rich and diversified experiences. Internationally, it proactively connects and collaborates with institutions from home and abroad while devoting itself to interorganizational and cross-domain exchanges/development in terms of art, technology, and research via talent cultivation, co-creation, R&D, exhibitions and performances.
C-LAB established the Contemporary Art Platform since the initiation. This platform encourages experiments in creative concept, production techniques, presentation exploration. It also encourages artists to branch out of traditional venues into alternative, unconventional spaces, including creative experiments done in cyberspace. Additionally, the Contemporary Art Platform actively serves as matchmaker between creative and technical talents, encouraging interdisciplinary studies. Focusing on the critical nature of contemporary art, it explores ways to incorporate art into social practice, with the aim of producing innovative value. It emphasizes the technical integration of databases and encourages the use of experimental methods to examine the process of social development and reengineer existing historical archives.
Taiwan Sound Lab
Working with the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics / Music (IRCAM) of the Pompidu Center in France, the Taiwan Sound Lab is established at C-LAB, with art, science, and technology embedded at its core to promote technology transfers, musical composition, technical training, mutual site visits, research curriculum, co-production, and co-presentation.
The Technology Media Platform was initiated
The C-LAB Technology Media Platform promotes interdisciplinary combination of culture and technology with focuses on music and sound culture, future audiovisual media, bio art, artificial intelligence, electronic communications, system integration, and digital humanities. It successively sets up cyber-physical integrated laboratories, brings professionals and innovative R&D energy together, matches creators and industries, supports forward-looking media experimental projects in consonance with market trends, connects with the international technological network for collaborations and exchanges, and schemes out future trajectories for the development of technology media.
Monument Designation
Taipei Municipal Cultural Heritage Review Committee designated Political Warfare Building as part of the municipal monument, the Air Force Command Headquarters (the former Industrial Research Institute of the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office), and named other 15 spots as ancillary facilities of the monument.
Creative Base for Animators was initiated
Officially opened in 2022, the Creative Base for Animators is located in C-LAB’s Dormitory A. In the three-story building features it Motion Capture Studio, classrooms, Art Space, and offices, all spaces tailor-made for flexible use during every stage of the creative process from conception to production and distribution. In addition, C-LAB collaborates with the Animation & Visual Effects Association in providing courses and resources such as legal consulting and investor matchmaking for animation talents and industries, and with the assistance of the National Center for High-performance Computing offers the software and techniques of real-time rendering and animation special effects, building up a creative base for incubating animation industry capacity.
In 2022, the Taiwan Living Arts Foundation which is the operating organization of C-LAB was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture to administrate the Hualien Cultural and Creative Industries Park.
The Technology Media Platform has featured two labs of TAIWAN SOUND LAB and FUTURE VISION LAB
The Technology Media Platform has featured two labs of Taiwan Sound Lab and FUTURE VISION LAB with a view to innovating audiovisual content.
In 2023, the Taiwan Living Arts Foundation which is the operating organization of C-LAB was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture to administrate the Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industries Park.
Open C-LAB
The Taiwan Living Arts Foundation has been renovating and reorganizing the spaces while improving the environments on the campus based on the three purposes of contemporary art, technology media, and social innovation. In 2024, the Air Force Command Headquarters (the former Industrial Research Institute of the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office) including the Old Office Building and Political Warfare Building was designated as a national monument by the Ministry of Culture. The foundation executes the work of the monument restoration and revitalization project in compliance with the Ministry of Culture, endeavoring to incubate the innovative cultural ecosystem and host public cultural events. In addition, it gradually provides more residency spaces for art and cultural organizations/groups and builds up an industrial cluster, encouraging co-creation and co-inspiration among diversified cultures on the campus.
