cover image The Contemporary Tea House: Japan's Top Architects Redefine a Tradition

The Contemporary Tea House: Japan's Top Architects Redefine a Tradition

Arata Isozaki, Tadao Ando, Terunobu Fujimori. Kodansha International (JPN), $39.95 (134pp) ISBN 978-4-7700-3046-7

This vibrant, relevant study from architects Ando, Fujimori and Isozaki looks at the present moment of a centuries-old Japanese tradition, the chashitsu, or ""tea room."" In first-person narratives, leading Japanese architects discuss their contemporary take on the classic tea ceremony space. Full-color photographs, design sketches and polished plans are clearly laid out along with text, and each chapter focuses on a number of works by a single architect. Fujimori's chapter, for example, includes an elaborate tree-top tea house, an ""enormous woven bamboo birdcage"" called The Forum and a room built especially to host France's President Chirac. Ando gets to the heart of the matter in his statement of purpose: ""not to dwell solely on the abstract; but to explore abstract concepts by expressing them through material phenomena."" Three more architects-Isozaki, Kengo Kuma and Hiroshi Hara-discuss their designs, and how they relate to the genre's traditions, in similar terms, focusing on the ""tension between abstraction and representation."" Especially fascinating are discussions of materials used: for Fujimori, the most important components are ""raw, unworked materials"" and ""amateur artisans"" to do all the building. Throughout, the houses' elegance and simplicity are reflected in the text; lush images, meanwhile, provide tranquil warmth and a real sense of place.