TEA HOUSE

The WAKA WAKA Tea House is a full size portable room, made in a 2-tatami size. The tea house is based on tea master Sen no Rikyu's Taian, which was built during Japan's civil war in late 1582. The design echoes the same dark, enclosed and introspective essence of the historic tea houses built during the civil war period (these structures differed greatly in design from the tea houses built after the war, which embraced a reopening of the self to the outside world, with more open air designs allowing light and nature to interact with the interior space). Sen no Rikyu's Taian tea house was made of materials available at the war site where it was built, and was meant to be portable. Inspired by this philosophy, the WAKA WAKA Tea House is made from the materials we use for commissions at our studio - baltic birch plywood, stainless steel bolts and nuts from our chair collection, and knobs we made for our cabinets. All panels are approximately 40" x 80", and the house can be built in a few hours and disassembled to transport or store. When assembled, the tea house can be moved throughout a space using the hidden wheels underneath the floor beams. The entrance of the tea house hosts a low chair for guests to remove shoes before entering. Inside, the tea house is simply adorned with a single spinning cylindrical table for the ceremony to take place after tea is served through the small sliding window in the rear. The single stem flower vase included on the "tokonoma" is our Set Vase - a collaboration with Japanese furniture manufacturer Karimoku. The Set Vases are made using the scrap wood from Karimoku's factory, further embracing the philosophy of the Taian.