Motto: Tea House

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A tea house is a means of psychological disconnection from the world, a place of desire. When one is in this space, one becomes fully conscious of one’s own presence and being, by taking part in a ritual. Quoting from the Book of Tea by Okakura, “Lao Tse claimed that only in vacuum lay the truly essential. The reality of a room, for instance, was to be found in the vacant space enclosed by the roof and walls, not in the roof and walls themselves. Vacuum is all potent because it is all containing. In Vacuum alone motion becomes possible.” The act of filling such a vacuum with water, and immersing oneself in it, points to a strong intent and gesture. The tea house is proposed to be an outdoor swimming pool, belonging to a couple. Their obsessive ritual of swimming in this pool everyday makes it the focal element of the house, precious in a a chaotic city like Mumbai.

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The tea house exists as a strong gesture of raw excavation. It is the gesture of excavating a pool and with this earth creating a mountain, in whose shadow one swims. The pool becomes an outdoor space, enclosed by the earth, filled with water, reflecting the sky above it. The excavated earth is moulded and fired into clay bricks which are dry stacked on top of each other to create the mass and the space. All the staircases and furniture exist as additional elements that rest on the ground of the structure but are detached from the walls. A layer of white granite lines the sides and floor of the pool, where one first enters at the start of the ritual. After swimming, one can climb the brick mass to lie down, relax, and dry oneself. The monsoon and humidity of Mumbai transform the tea house over time. It exists and ages as a natural artificial landscape, a place of desire.

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'Developing a project under the guidance of Professor Olgiati is a unique experience. His approach is honest and provocative, forcing you to be nothing less than the best version of yourself. His pedagogy and philosophy around architecture helped me understand the significance of an idea in space-making. The indispensable support of my teaching assistant Patricia da Silva guided my thoughts in the right direction, to help me produce a piece of work which remains very special to me.'

 

www.arc.usi.ch

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Photographs: SG, Patricia da Silva

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Accademia di Architettura, Mendrisio

2017