PAN- PROJECTS' transparent tea house Ø sets sail along copenhagen's canals

based in copenhagen and london, PAN- PROJECTS is an architectural design duo led by japanese architects kazumasa takada and yuriko yagi. dedicated to celebrate the diversity of our living world, the duo conceives architecture as a creation formed by fabricating complex elements. their latest project — floating pavilion Ø — proposes water as a new public space and attempts to show its potential to the public through three floating pavilions, this one being the first one, and a teahouse.

images by david hugo cabo

currently known as a sustainable city, copenhagen once prospered as an industrial area, adding to its pollution history. throughout the years, the danish capital has been making huge efforts into changing this, and has for example made efforts into converting the waterside space centered on the canal into a hub for urban activities.

‘we grasp the elements that make up public spaces from three aspects: cultural / social / commercial, and propose pavilions on the water that have functions corresponding to each aspect,’ comments PAN- PROJECTS. ‘one envisions tea house Ø, which floats as a cultural activity, oysterbar Ø as a commercial possibility, and finally plaza Ø as a social aspect. each pavilion aims to show one of the future possibilities that copenhagen’s ongoing efforts towards a sustainable city can create, and also congratulate and celebrate the work of this citizen. we aim to be a boost for the better.’

the project pictured here, tea house Ø, which is the first of the projects Ø series, expresses the beauty of various natural phenomena created by the expressive substance water in space. changes in various surrounding phenomena such as reflections on the water surface, changes in the weather, and changes in light over time are reflected in the space, and the interior space and the appearance of the architecture as seen from the outside are constantly changing depending on the surrounding environment.

‘by creating a translucent boundary (exodermis) that directly reflects the expression of the 360-degree water surface, we succeeded in creating a space where everyday scenery is surrounded by various phenomena such as sparkle, fluctuation, and haze of water,’ PAN- projects concludes.

project info:

name: tea house Ø
design: PAN- PROJECTS
location: copenhagen, denmark
date: august, 2019
area: 10 sqm
function: folly
status: built
structural engineer: takayuki fujimoto, yohei tomioka
sponsor: statens kunstfond, beta factory
photographer: david hugo cabo, anika kondo
videographer: barsk