Not just a tea project

So for this current project I'm going to focus on the design of the entire environment surrounding the tea ceremony. The New Way of Tea is a design exhibition directed at bringing the tea ceremony into the current world. 

For example, With extensive use of a modern material (Plexiglas), artist Jae Eun Choi devised a tearoom with a visually continuous interior and exterior. This gravity-defying design embodies the image of water in a constant flow. The walls are arranged at asymmetrical angles to convey forms of eddying water. In the midst of this imaginary movement, a water-filled vase sits quietly in the center of the tearoom. Representing the ever-reciprocal movement between yin and yang, Choi’s tearoom evokes Lao-tzu’s image of a vase filled with water: 

Treat the fullest vase as empty, and it will not run dry in use.
- Lao-tzu, The Book of Change

The New Way of Tea | Design Brief

The New Way of Tea | About

The Japanese way of tea (chanoyu), known in the West as the tea ceremony, is based on the simple act of enjoying a bowl of tea, accompanied by an appreciation of nature and the four seasons. Chanoyu aspires to celebrate the commonalities existing between different aesthetics and to search for a universal transcendental experience through participation in the ritual of tea. The New Way of Tea brings this quest into the twenty-first century by juxtaposing tearooms and tea utensils created by contemporary Japanese architects, artists, and designers with those from other Asian cultures and the West who have been likewise inspired by the aesthetic and philosophy of chanoyu.

Focus | Design a Tearoom and tea utensils that follow these criteria

-Must be in sync with The New Way of Tea in following the philosophy of chanoyu

-Follows Masakazu Izumi’s guidelines for principles, process, and continuity

-Uses at least one of the four principles of chanoyu as the starting point to gain the sphere of all four principles.

-Brings modern design into a traditional ceremony. Culture is the reference, not the design.

-The design needs to be simple, nothing extraneous.

-Supply various themes, upon critique, follow the chosen theme  

Take into consideration

-Tea pots are only part of the design; the holistic tearoom environment is the design.

-A tearoom does not stand by itself. It is defined by the environment and is inseparable from the myriad of meanings embodied within various elements that surround it.