Glass Tea House – KOU-AN
by Tokujin Yoshioka
TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA Glass Tea House KOU-AN, 2019-2021, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Installation View 「吉岡徳仁 ガラスの茶室 – 光庵」2019-2021年 国立新美術館 公開風景
Presented for the first time at Glasstress 2011, collateral event of the 54th Venice Biennale, the Glass Tea House designed by Tokujin Yoshioka will be exhibited at the entrance of National Art Center in Tokyo from 17th April 2019 to 10th May 2021.
This extremely modern glass-made architecture represents a metaphor of the Japanese perception of nature, which often involves a sensory realisation of the surrounding atmosphere as it were fill with some sort of energy – better called aura. A sensual and poetic appreciation of the beauty of nature and its intrinsic qualities, also embedded in the traditional tea ceremony practice.
Tracing back to and re-interpreting the historical Japanese usages and traditions, the artist gave birth to an installation that resembles a microcosmos somehow suspended in time, between the ancient and the contemporary.
