Fujimori maintains that buildings can be made by non-professional people and the Fujimori Tea House follows this principle. It was constructed by students and tutors from Kingston University, under guidance of Takeshi Hayatsu.
The exterior cladding utilises Yakisugi, charred timber produced using the traditional Japanese charring technique. The charring workshop was held at Weald and Downland Living Museum in West Sussex in January 2017, organised by Kingston University as part of their pedagogy. The structure was prefabricated at the University’s workshop. The bronze cast handles, ceramic lampshades, hearth, vase and plywood stools were also handmade by students from Kingston’s architecture, product and furniture design programmes.
The Tea House, an original commission for the Barbican exhibition, forms part of an interpretation on the traditional Japanese tea garden. It represents forms and arrangements closely linked with the ritual of the tea ceremony, encircling the Barbican’s vast central concrete column.
The 16th century tea master Sen No Rikyu established three principles which Fujimori followed: a confined entryway, a small interior space, and a hearth for fire. Guests to the Fujimori Tea House are invited by the host to enter through a gate clad in charred timber, dividing the outer and inner territories. A narrow path leads to a lantern-lit water bowl to for visitors to wash their hands before entering the house. Upon reaching The Tea House, elevated on chestnut stilts and oak beams, guests are asked to take off their shoes and enter from beneath. The interior is 3 x 3 m in plan, the size of four and half tatami mats, standardised 400 years ago in Japan. It is designed to accommodate six people, sitting, circling a central hearth.
The Fujimori Tea House abstains from certain Japanese traditions: the use of a tatami mat floor, shoji paper screens and Tokonoma, an alcove for ornamental artefacts. Instead, guests sit on a plastered floor, facing a corner of the room, decorated with charcoal on the white plaster by Fujimori by himself. Nestled in a corner of the room, a ceramic vase and lampshade crafted by the students pours light upon a living flower.
