Why Modern?

We ultimately decided not to build a traditional Japanese tea house. There are a number of reasons for this. These include the need to fit in with the surrounding suburban American architecture, and our desire to create something new and different.

Modern architecture is the best way to achieve this goal. There is significant overlap with traditional Japanese design, including simplicity, spareness, and a connection with nature. There are also a number of recent examples of architects who have combined the two. For example, Shigeru Uchida's tea houses:


These give the impression of openness and transparency, while still maintaining the feeling of enclosure. The glow that they give off in the dark also ads to their attractiveness as a landscape feature.

Another unusual and creative space is Toyo Ito's 2003 Serpentine Pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery in London. This space, with its random solid and glass panels, is well connected to the exterior and has ample natural lighting:


Finally, we draw inspiration from the Farnsworth house of Mies Van der Rohe:



The simplicity and elegance of this design shares much in common with traditional Japanese architecture, though it is done using glass and steel rather than wood, bamboo and stone.

With these ideas, we set out to find an architect to help us build our tea house.