素 の 間 / So no Ma / Between the Elements
An assembly-type device that creates a space that does not limit the purpose, function, or application. A simple structure consisting of the base of the square timber of the stopper, pillars, beams and tatami mats, and hemp.
Words from Seki Design Studio
Japanese conception of nature is often characterized by its distinctive spacial perception involves the sensory realization of the surrounding atmosphere through what may be described as signs of energies or aura. Such way of sensual appreciation of nature's intrinsic and beauties can be recognized in Japanese tea ceremony practice.
This project originates in the architecture plan of the Transparent Japanese House, first presented in 2002. The idea has been developed into a transparent teahouse, an architectural project incorporating a symbolic Japanese cultural image. The design of the project was presented at Glasstress 2011, the collateral event of the 54th La Biennale di Vennezia.
Originally, the culture of Tea Ceremony was generated in the closed microcosmic space.
This “KOU-AN Glass Tea House” is not just a modernized teahouse that was evolved from traditional style teahouse but a project that traces origin of the culture which is peculiar to Japan.
“KOU-AN” does not have a scroll nor flowers that all the traditional tea houses have. However, glitters that reminds of ripples on surface of water spreads out on the floor. Also, at some point in the afternoon, there will be a rainbow light that is sunlight coming through a prism glass on the roof and it seems like a flower of light.
Tokujin came up with the idea of tracing the origin of Japanese culture that exists in our unconscious sensation by perceiving the time that is created along with nature from the teahouse which is microcosmic space and by being released by superficial designs integrating with nature.
In A.D.794, A Japanese emperor at the time visited Shogunzuka and he was convinced that Kyoto would be a right place to be a capital of Japan and started constructing the capital. Thus, Shogunzuka in a precinct of Shoren-in temple in Kyoto is a place where the city of Kyoto which symbolizes Japanese cultures.
From Kyoto to all over the world, Tokujin is hoping to provide people new experiences through the project and by producing works that make us think of the origin of Japanese culture.
via Archdaily
Shigeru Ban is a Japanese architect, winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2014 and most known for his use of paper to construct his buildings.
Known as the Paper House (紙の家), Ban's first paper-based construction required special building code approval and became the first project that used paper as a structural base for a building. An S-shape configuration comprised of 110 paper tubes defines the interior and exterior areas of the paper house.
According to the Pritzker Prize, he attributes his desire to use recyclable materials to Japanese culture and his upbringing. Ironically, Ban may be closer to the old modernist ideals than many who build today in glass and steel. He wants beauty to be attainable by the masses, even the poorest. Ban first began to use the tubes in the '80s, in exhibitions. Impressed by the material's load-bearing capacity (he calls cardboard "improved wood"), he thought of them again in 1995, after the Kobe earthquake, and used donated 34-ply tubes to build a community hall and houses. "I was interested in weak materials," says Ban (age 42 at the time of his interview with Time). "Whenever we invent a new material or new structural system, a new architecture comes out of it."
A description of the Paper House project from the architect firm reads:
Ten paper tubes support the vertical load and the eighty interior tubes bear the lateral forces. The cruciform wooden joints in the bases of the columns are anchored to the foundation by lug screws and cantilevered from the floor. The large circle formed by the interior tubes forms a big area. A freestanding paper tubes column with a 1.2m diameter in the surrounding gallery contains a toilet. The exterior paper tubes surrounding the courtyard stand apart from the structure and serve as a screen. The living area in the large circle is without furnishing or detail other than an isolated kitchen counter, sliding doors, and movable closets. When the perimeter sashes are opened, the roof, supported by the colonnade of paper tubes, is visually emphasized and a spatial continuity is created between the surrounding gallery space and the outdoor terrace.
via Shigeru Ban and Time.
Paul Discoe, Meditation Room Made of Recycled Cardboard for Burning Man.
"A ordained Zen Buddhist priest, Paul Discoe studied art history and philosophy as an undergraduate in the United States and Buddhist temple design and construction in Japan. He became a student of Suzuki Roshi at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in California, and, after four years, Suzuki sent him to Japan to train under a traditional master builder for five years. Discoe founded Joinery Structures in 1988. His projects include the Kojin-an Zen temple in Oakland for the Akiba Sensei, the founder's hall and kitchen at Tassajara, the Lindesfarne guesthouse and Wheelwright Center, and the abbot's house at Green Gulch, as well as several private and public projects internationally."
Listen to Paul Discoe's explanation about the project here.
Biography via Workshop Residence.
As a memory and reminder for the Japanese Tatami soul and culture, built using only natural materials, this 3 and a half tatami-sized space “Shouji Kekkai An” can be put together and taken apart for easy assembly and stow away, a perfect atomosphere for a tea cermony, or as a guest room. The basis for this furniture, the Ceremony Space, was exhibited in 1987 as an invitation piece at the 10th anniversary of the Pompidou Centre in Paris.