臺灣日治時期建築式樣的表現及構造材料的運用受日本明治維新的西化運動影響甚鉅，然而臺灣（和日本）常見的面磚貼覆卻不容易在十九至二十世紀前期歐洲興建的建築上看到。這代表在建築材料的使用方式與概念上，日本及臺灣並未直接模仿西方建築立面慣用的方式；因此，筆者認為有必要尋求一個新的視角來看待西化的過程，本研究試圖以臺灣（和日本）建築立面之面磚使用為例來說明：西化是一個轉化的開端，而非全盤接受。為解讀臺灣建築立面材料的使用在現代化過程中的轉化意義，本研究以構造遺存型態學（skeuomorph）來解釋日治時期臺灣公共建築面磚的運用。構造遺存型態學以歷時性的角度解釋構造方式改變時裝飾型態的延續。此理論基礎可以檢視：臺灣近代建築由磚構造（1910年代）轉為鋼筋混擬土構造（1920年代）時，立面材料（面磚）使用之角色轉變及其背後之文化背景的意義。透過上述文化面向的討論，本研究企圖進一步檢視構造遺存型態學的理論，並嘗試提供雙向、回應西方理論的研究方式，藉此使西方的理論不再佔據主導的檢視地位、而與臺灣的案例產生對話的關係，希望在設計者設計思慮及評論者檢視討論的過程中提供有別於單純沿用西方理論的窠臼之討論面向。

Although architectural design in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period was significantly influenced by the Japanese westernization, surface tiles, as a common surface material in Taiwan and Japan, were hardly found on architectural elevation in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries in the West. This signifies the fact that, in terms of material use, Japan and colonial Taiwan did not directly imitate western material use. This research therefore considers surface tile use in Japan and colonial Taiwan as examples to approach a new possible viewpoint of the westernized process: the Westernization can be considered as a beginning of the transformation instead of a pronoun of unconditional acceptance.In order to understand the transformation of surface material use under the westernization of Taiwanese architecture, this research considers skeuomorph as the key concept. Skeuomorph provides a theoretical foundation to interpret ornamental morphology and to examine the diachronic transformation of surface material use and its cultural milieu and meaning in Taiwan, specifically within the major change of construction systems from brick to reinforced concrete.By doing so, this research could propose another cultural approach, differing from the conventional understanding, to re-consider the ideas of tectonics and skeuomorph. It is a two-way approach that shows the reflection on Western theories and builds a conversation between Western theories and Taiwanese empirical works. It is finally possible to provide an alternative understanding, which differs from the cliché based on Western theories and design approach, for architectural design and theoretical discussions.