Modern interpretations of the Japanese teahouse, illustrated with examples from Sutemi Horiguchi

摘要

Numerous motifs inspired by the tea ceremony and the teahouse form part of Japanese aesthetics. That teahouses are vital as archetypes in modern Japanese architecture is therefore not surprising. This article focuses on the ways in which the architectural type of the teahouse was discovered and interpreted in the modern context, mainly by Sutemi Horiguchi. It summarises Horiguchi's approach to the teahouse in three main points: relating the modern concept of non-urbanity to the teahouse; accepting the openness and secular life; and replacing the concept of kiwari with geometry. Based on the work of Horiguchi and his successors, the article shows that Japanese architects' interpretations of the teahouse became more abstract. As one of the archetypes in Japanese architecture, the teahouse today reflects the preferences and ideals of the modern Japanese.