KOU-AN Glass Tea House by Tokujin Yoshioka is Traveling Around Japan

There is something slightly different in the courtyard of the Shoren-in Buddhist Temple located in Kyoto, Japan. It looks like a glass house with simple architecture, with a completely transparent roof, walls, and stage floor. This is the KOU-AN Glass Tea House by Japanese designer, Tokujin Yoshioka, which brings a modern look to the traditional buildings used in Japanese culture to host tea ceremonies.

(KOU-AN Glass Tea House by Tokujin Yoshioka)

Since thousands of years ago, the tea ceremony has become a deep-rooted ancestral culture and cannot be separated from Japanese people's lives to this day. Departing from history and the desire to introduce tea culture to the younger generation, Tokujin created the KOU-AN Glass Tea House as a response to efforts to preserve ancestral heritage by accommodating the aesthetics and beauty of the drinking tea ceremony in a contemporary structure.

(some people who are visiting the shrine also stop by the teahouse, they are wearing traditional Japanese clothes)

(some people use the teahouse for the tea ceremony)

The concept of KOU-AN Glass Tea House was presented at Glasstress, at the 54th La Bienalle Venezia event in 2011. Tokujin explained that this project is expected to be an opportunity to see and reminisce about the origins of Japanese culture.

(the temple is considered a very suitable place to put a teahouse because of the historical background)

Therefore, the structure of the KOU-AN Glass Tea House is “welcome” to stand next to the very historical Shore-in shrine in Kyoto, as it was built during the Heian period between 794 and 1185 AD. The myth is that teahouses in Japan have to be built in places with traditional landscapes. From this point of view, he thought it would be very suitable if the structure of the teahouse had a view of the historical city of Kyoto.

(almost all the material used is glass)

Made by the glass. The roof, walls, and floor structures of KOU-AN Glass Tea House are designed in such a way by adapting the original shape of a traditional teahouse. For the roof, the planes of glass are arranged in an overlapping manner supported by a slender steel frame featuring a mirrored surface. As for the floor, use a thick sheet of glass that has a wavy surface with a soft texture.

(incoming sunlight will create a color bias in the greenhouse)

(Rainbows in a glass house are produced by the reflection of light hitting the glass)

In the afternoon, or when the sun's rays are right on the greenhouse, a beautiful rainbow light will be created. This light enters through the glass prisms on the roof which is then reflected onto the corrugated floor creating a visual like a rainbow shimmer that adorns the surface of the water. In addition, there are three benches made of corrugated glass which function as seats for visitors who want to enjoy tea in the greenhouse.

Tokujin Yoshioka's mission to remind people of the origins of Japanese culture does not stop at the Shore-in Shrine. Hence, he plans to show this teahouse throughout Japan, even introducing it to other locations around the world.