Contacting the Architect

On Nov. 20, 2003, we sent the following e-mail to David Jameson

> Mr. Jameson,
>
> We would like to discuss with you the possibility
> of designing a modern "tea house" for our residence
> in Bethesda. We have noticed some of your work in the
> neighborhood, and like your design approach for
> fitting modern design into traditional neighborhoods.
> We would like to build a modern version of the
> traditional Japanese teahouse, which could extend
> the connection between the living and garden spaces
> on our property.
>
> We look forward to hearing from you.


To which we received a very prompt response by telephone. We met at our home on November 25, 2003. We outlined the requirements for the project, which included the following:

1. A single room building of roughly 125 sq feet.
2. Simple clean lines
3. Ample light
4. Some allusion to the traditional Japanese tea house
5. The building should appear somewhat transparent, yet not really see through to the Neighbors houses.
6. Some feeling or illusion of floating.
7. Some hidden storage for gardening tools and bicycles would be useful
8. Year round functionality, so that it should be heated and cooled.
9. Flexible usage of the space, including dining and music performance.

We also gave him some of the photos that appear in the earlier posts, to give some idea of the direction we were thinking. We agreed to meet again in the very near future.