tokujin yoshioka's kou-an glass tea house set to travel inside and outside japan

UPDATE august 27, 2018: the teahouse will travel to saga prefecture, where it will be exhibited at the saga prefectural art museum from november 28, 2018 to february 11 2019. the installation is also expected to be exhibited in tokyo in 2019.

first installed on the stage of seiryu-den in kyoto in 2015, the kou-an glass tea house by japanese artist and designer tokujin yoshioka is ready to start traveling inside and outside japan. reinterpreting the culture of japanese tea ceremony through a contemporary lens, the project is not only a modernized version of a teahouse, but also an idea that traces origin of the culture peculiar to japan. made out almost completely of transparent glass, the structure offers an opportunity for people to sense the essence of the country’s history and rethink its position in today’s society.

first installed in 2015, the kou-an glass tea house will leave kyoto on september 10th, 2017
all images courtesy of tokujin yoshioka

after welcoming hundreds of national and international visitors, the kou-an glass tea house by tokujin yoshioka has announced september 10th, 2017 as its closing date. the good news is that it will only leave kyoto to start traveling around japan and the world. with it, the teahouse aims to bring to new latitudes the japanese perception of nature – often characterized by its distinctive spatial perception, embodying the sensory realization of the surrounding environment.

the installation reinterprets the culture of japanese tea ceremony through a contemporary lens

‘what I wanted to attempt to do through this project is not just to express regeneration of tradition and history by modern design but to think and trace why the tea ceremony which is one of the japanese symbolic culture has been generated.’ yoshioka describes. ‘the origin of the japanese culture will become visible by staring at the relationship between senses that we have unconsciously and the nature. ‘kou-an glass tea house’ will be an opportunity to look back what the origin of japanese culture is.’

the structure was made out completely of transparent glass

to celebrate, a series of closing events will take place including the ‘tokujin yoshioka kou-an tea house’ book launch event, and the presence of the designer itself at the kyoto shogunzuka seiryu-den on september 9th and 10th.

rainbows appear when the sun hits the glass

thick slabs of glass act as the floor inside the teahouse

the glass finishes give a sense of water

a tea ceremony taking place inside the structure

a crystal tea house set within kyoto’s landscape