The Paper Dome in Taomi Village, Puli Township, was designed by Shigeru Ban, who worked pro bono. It was built in Kobe on September 17, 1995, as a temporary church for the Takatori Catholic Church after the Great Hanshin earthquake destroyed the original. Construction took five weeks with 160 volunteers. The last service in Kobe was on May 29, 2005.
It was shipped to Taiwan in 2006 and donated to Taomi Village, which had needed a gathering place after the 1999 earthquake. Over 1,000 people helped rebuild it, starting May 25, 2008, and the land was blessed on September 21, 2008.
Its ellipse-shaped plan uses 58 paper tubes, each coated to resist water. They are 16 feet (5 m) tall and 13 inches (33 cm) across. The structure can be dismantled, and it has become a tourist attraction.
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