LusiveLife

Kengo Kuma’s Modernized Tea House in Beijing

A leading Japanese architect Kengo Kuma renovated a typical tea house in Beijing  in a contemporary  fashion, but keeping its historical charateritics and a strong relation to Asian heritage.  Kengo Kuma and Asssociates have created a translucent plastic blocks in the form of bricks to make new walls for a Beijing Tea house overlooking the Forbidden City, the biggest tourist attraction in the city. Historic tea house got the modern twist with four different hollow polyethylene block types interlaced with blue translucent polycarbonate panels that allow light to enter softly into the space from all sides replacing traditional wood panelling and paper screens. “Bricks” were made trough the rotational molding and arranged to reflect city’s traditional brick architecture that dates back from  15th century. Beijing Tea house is a private member’s club situated pposite the eastern gate of beijing’s forbidden palace.

"The main structure for the city of Beijing is masonry bricks. Blocks made of polyethylene are in this sense a modern version of masonry. It proves high performance in insulation and passes through light to create a gentle space of Zen, just as the paper used for Siheyuan [courtyard residences] did in the past," stated Kengo Kuma and Associates.

  

source: dezeen