MAKING TIME VISIBLE
TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA’S GLASS TEA HOUSE IN KYOTO, JAPAN
MAKING TIME VISIBLE
TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA’S GLASS TEA HOUSE IN KYOTO, JAPAN
A recently-unveiled architecture project by the studio of
designer and artist Tokujin Yoshioka plays
with the conventions of the Japanese tea ceremony tradition. Installed in front
of the historical Shoren-in temple on a hill overlooking Kyoto,
the KOU-AN tea house is perfectly fitting for performing the tea
ceremony — with the only difference being that it is completely made of glass.
More often than not built in picturesque gardens, traditional tea
houses are pavilions that offer not only the ideal conditions for performing
the tea ceremony but also an opportunity for introspection and to connect with
nature. Influenced by Buddhism and its principles, the tea ceremony ritual
has, over time, developed its own aesthetic and an elaborate set of rules; as
far as the location is concerned, the ritual normally takes place in a room or
pavilion of particular dimensions which has two entrances (one for guests
and one for the host) and is decorated with a special flower arrangement and a
calligraphy scroll.
Reinterpreting this tradition, Yoshioka created a fully functional tea house that is completely transparent, as a way to highlight the importance of one being connected to the environment. Instead of flowers, a ray of multicoloured light passes through a prism on the ceiling during certain hours of the day, while the ripples in the glass bars that form the floor remind one of the graceful strokes of Japanese calligraphy. Apart from the project’s aesthetic aspect Yoshioka’s idea of transparent architecture also reveals an interesting insight about design: ‘‘What I consider the most important’’ says the designer ‘‘is to design Time as it is created along with nature. In order to design Time, our sensations need to be relieved of superficial designs, to be integrated with nature and to sense light itself.’’
Reinterpreting this tradition, Yoshioka created a fully functional tea house that is completely transparent, as a way to highlight the importance of one being connected to the environment. Instead of flowers, a ray of multicoloured light passes through a prism on the ceiling during certain hours of the day, while the ripples in the glass bars that form the floor remind one of the graceful strokes of Japanese calligraphy. Apart from the project’s aesthetic aspect Yoshioka’s idea of transparent architecture also reveals an interesting insight about design: ‘‘What I consider the most important’’ says the designer ‘‘is to design Time as it is created along with nature. In order to design Time, our sensations need to be relieved of superficial designs, to be integrated with nature and to sense light itself.’’
Is this yet another question on the subject of aesthetics and
function in design? Or does Yoshioka’s
comment reveal something else? It is true that the KOU-AN tea
house brings out the performance-related and use-full aspects of its
design, as it does ‘‘design the passing of time’’ through its relationship
to the sun’s movement, its fragility and its evanescence. With plans to travel
with the installation to other parts of the world, Yoshioka wishes to
share ‘‘the essence of Japanese culture'’ — an initiative that will
hopefully act as a catalyst to shed some light on issues of transparency and
visibility in other societies and cultures as well.
Tokujin Yoshioka KOU-AN Glass Tea House. Photo courtesy of Tokujin Yoshioka Inc.
You may visit Tokujin Yoshioka’s past exhibition news at Museum of
Contemporary Art Tokyo to click below link.
Photograph by © Yasutake Kondo
Photograph by © Yasutake Kondo
Photograph by © Yasutake Kondo
Photograph by © Yasutake Kondo
Photograph by © Yasutake Kondo
Photograph by © Yasutake Kondo
TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA WORDS
Born from
nature. Nature provides us astonishiment that is beyond our imagination. We may
be shaken by its power, be struck with awe and praise the inscrutable beauty
simultaneously. What exactly are these feeling? Why can nature move our
hearts? And how do we sense it?
I think the
answer to these questions lies in the mechanism of life inscribed in human,
which is outside the reach of memory or senses. Life of human is also given
from nature, which evolved from the harmony of the myriad of chances and
necessity. That is why it feels to me that there are the mechanism of unifying
the connection between human and nature within our lives.
Nature may
not actively produce “beauty”, but it is filled with energy to create it. I
infused the exhibition tile “Crystallize” with meaning of “creating works from
crystallizing the energy of nature.”
Works of
crystal take their forms as if power of nature animates them and an
architecture formed by light composes beautiful pieces of poem. Resonating with
life, energy of nature appears in the works of art.
Forms of
works generated from nature go beyond our imagination. They take their own
figures by reacting with nature and its hidden energy that move our heart. This
is the liberation from the concept of formation and techniques.
And there
exists my answer to the future.
Tokujin Yoshioka
TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA
Born in 1967.
Established Tokujin Yoshioka Inc. in 2000. His works, which transcend the
boundaries of product design, architecture, and exhibition installation, are
highly evaluated also as art.
His
representative works include the paper chair “Honey-pop”, “PANE chair”,
"VENUS - Natural crystal chair”, Swarovski Crystal Palace “STARDUST”
“Stellar”, YAMAGIWA’s lighting “TōFU” “Tear Drop”, and “MEDIA SKIN”
"X-RAY" for au design project.
"Water
Block", a representative work of optical glass projects started since
2002, is permanently exhibited in Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
As some of
the other important works, he designed the SWAROVSKI’s flagship store in Ginza
and a number of boutiques for ISSEY MIYAKE. He has collaborated with various
leading companies such as Hermès, BMW, MOROSO, TOYOTA, LEXUS.
He also
directed exhibition such as "Second Nature" at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT in
2008, and Cartier’s special exhibition "Story of . . ." - Memories of
Cartier creations (2009), and "Cartier Time Art" (2011).
Many of his
works are displayed as a part of permanent collections in the world’s
well-known museums including Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, Centre
National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Victoria and Albert Museum,
Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and Vitra Design Museum.
He received
prizes such as “Mainichi Design Award, 2001”, “Cultural Affairs Section of
Government of Japan, Encourage Prize, 2006”, “Design Miami, Designer of the
Year, 2007”, “Elle Deco International Design Awards (EDIDA)/ Designer of the
Year 2009”, "TOKYO Design & Art ENVIROMENTAL AWARDS / Artist of the
Year 2010", "A&W Architektur & Wohnen/Designer of the Year
2011", and "Maison & Objet/ Creator of the Year 2012".
His books are
“TOKUJIN DESIGN” (Gap Publication), “Tokujin Yoshioka Design” (Phaidon Press),
“Invisible Forms” (Access Publishing), “TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA” (Rizzoli
International Publications ). Appeared in television broadcaster TBS’s
documentary program, “Jonetsu Tairiku” and selected by the Japanese edition of
Newsweek as one of the “100 most respected Japanese by the world," and
"The 100 Most Creative People in Business 2010" by Fast Company
magazine in America.
