FUJIMORI TEAHOUSE with MArch Unit 5 (Kingston School of Art)

The Fujimori Teahouse is a 1:1 installation commissioned by the Barbican Centre in London for the exhibition “The Japanese House: Life and Architecture after 1945” (March 2017). Designed by Japanese architect and historian Terunobu Fujimori, the project was developed and built by postgraduate students and tutors from Kingston School of Art under the guidance of Takeshi Hayatsu.

Guests are invited to the teahouse through an undersized gate which, like the teahouse itself, is clad using “yakisugi”: a traditional Japanese charring technique used to preserve timber. The structure, elevated atop of four chestnut stilts and oak beams, encourages visitors to deposit their shoes in a shoebox to the right of the entrance before entering the contrasting plastered interior through a handcrafted timber ladder. Large enough to accommodate six people, guests are then welcomed to sit around the central hearth used for traditional tea ceremonies.

The white plastered interior, decorated using charcoal, is 3x3m: a measurement based on the size of four and a half tatami mats, a standard established in Japan over 400 years ago.

Photography credit to Ben Tynegate.