Inflatable Tea House by Kengo Kuma

Japanese Tea Houses are among the most beautiful and serene structures on the planet, and are usually minimalist in design and modest in size. Kengo Kuma has built an inflatable one for the garden of the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt. According to the Museum:

"Kengo Kuma develops the traditional teahouse architecture further, while at the same time venturing onto entirely unexplored territory with regard to his design. In search of flexible buildings - Kuma uses the term “weak architecture” - he has arrived at a truly ephemeral structure with this project.

"The teahouse does not rise up from the ground as a fixed wooden construction, but unfolds as an airborne form. When a ventilation system is activated, the teahouse swells into shape like a white high-tech textile blossom. In its interior, comprising a surface of approximately twenty square metres, are nine tatami mats, an electric stove for the water kettle, a tokonoma niche and a preparation room. Integrated LED technology allows the use of the teahouse at night; the interior can be heated by way of the membrane." ::Teahouse Museum für Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt via ::Notcot

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