Deadline for GC2025 submissions in 

search
×
menu
login
donate
Takasugi-an
Chino, Japan
Written by:
follow
share on:mail linkcopy link to clipboardShare via LinkedInShare via TwitterShare via FacebookShare via Facebook
A self-built teahouse

image: Edmund Sumner | © all rights reserved
i
Category:
recreation & sport
Phase:
in use
Design:
Terunobu Fujimori
Updated:
16 November 2011
introduction

Takasugi-an, which literally means “the teahouse [built] too high,” is more like a tree house than a teahouse. Fujimori says that his teahouse got higher and higher as he thought about the design of it for more than 2 years. To reach the room, one must first climb up a freestanding ladder propped up against one of the two, load-bearing chestnut trees. The tree were cut and removed from a nearby forest, and placed deep into the holes in the ground to withhold the weight. Shoes must be taken off on a landing halfway up, and after climbing another ladder on barefoot, one finally reaches the room itself.

read more >
< read less
cultural and social context

The renowned architectural historian Terunobu Fujimori observes that a teahouse is “the ultimate personal architecture.” Its extreme compactness, which at times would consist of only four and a half tatami mats (which is about 2.7 square metres of floor space each), makes it feel “more like a piece of clothing.”

Meimeian, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture

image: 663highland | CC-BY-SA_black.png some rights reserved
i
read more >
< read less
image gallery
Takasugi-an/Chino City

image: Edmund Sumner | © all rights reserved
i
Takasugi-an/Chino City

image: Edmund Sumner | © all rights reserved
i
Takasugi-an/Chino City

image: Edmund Sumner | © all rights reserved
i
Takasugi-an/Chino City

image: Edmund Sumner | © all rights reserved
i
Takasugi-an/Chino City

image: Edmund Sumner | © all rights reserved
i
Takasugi-an/Chino City

image: Edmund Sumner | © all rights reserved
i
Takasugi-an/Chino City

image: Edmund Sumner | © all rights reserved
i
Takasugi-an/Chino City

image: Edmund Sumner | © all rights reserved
i
Takasugi-an/Chino City

image: Edmund Sumner | © all rights reserved
i
technical drawings
Cross section.

image: Terunobu Fujimori | © all rights reserved
i
Floor Plan

image: © all rights reserved
i
Takasugi-an Site Drawing

image: © all rights reserved
i
Takasugi-an South Elevation

image: © all rights reserved
i
Takasugin-an East Elevation

image: public domain
i
Location
show earth plate boundarieshide earth plate boundaries
Explore more inspirations
Keyword:
local resources (101)
craftsmanship (33)
prev
  •  housing
    cappadocia cave dwellings
    cappadocia, Turkey
  •  education
    Thon Mun Community Centre
    Takeo, Cambodia
  •  meeting place
    Esperanza
    El Cabuyal, Ecuador
  •  infrastructure
    Community Bamboo Footbridge
    Davao City, Philippines
  •  education
    Tongo school
    Tongo, Mali
  •  emergency shelter
    Low-cost modular housing scheme
    Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  •  education
    Pani community centre
    Rajarhat, Bangladesh
  •  health & sanitation
    Safe Haven Bathhouse
    Ban Tha Song Yang, Thailand
  •  meeting place
    wNw Bar
    thu dau mot, Vietnam
  •  housing
    Homemade mud house
    Dinajpur, Bangladesh
  •  emergency shelter
    Living Tebogo
    Johannesburg, South Africa
  •  work & business
    Bamboo factory Bali
    Bali, Indonesia
  •  housing
    E.V.A. Self build eco-village
    Pescomaggiore, Italy
  •  meeting place
    R-Urban
    Colombes, France
  •  housing
    Turf houses
    Keldur, Iceland
  •  housing
    Entre Muros House
    Tumbaco, Quito, Ecuador
  •  emergency shelter
    Bamboo Dome Structure
    Ramsar, Iran
  •  meeting place
    Sidi Amor’s eco-village for arts and crafts
    Ariana, Tunisia
  •  education
    Gando Primary School
    Gando, Burkina Faso
  •  meeting place
    Liyuan Library
    Jiao jie he (交界河村), China
  •  housing
    Bahia house
    Salvador, Brazil
  •  housing
    Palmyra house
    Nandgaon, India
  •  housing
    Río Cedro House
    Río Cedro, Colombia
  •  health & sanitation
    Salam Center for Cardiac Surgery
    Soba, Sudan
  •  education
    Maosi primary school
    Maosi, China
  •  recreation & sport
    Geometric Hot Springs
    Villarica National Park, Chile
  •  health & sanitation
    Butaro hospital
    Burera, Rwanda
  •  housing
    Mousgoum dwellings
    Pouss, Cameroon
  •  emergency shelter
    Soe Ker Tie House
    Ban Tha Song Yang, Thailand
  •  emergency shelter
    Reed house
    Lake Titicaca, Peru
  •  meeting place
    Villanueva Public Library
    Villanueva, Colombia
  •  meeting place
    Palomino, Building a Society.
    Palomino, Colombia
  •  recreation & sport
    Cerro Mirador
    San Carlos, Venezuela
  • play
     work & business
    Eco-brick goes MUD!
    Arusha, Tanzania
  •  religion & memorial
    Wenzai True Jesus Church-Our Pray Room
    Changhua, Taiwan
  •  housing
    Juan Hippolito House
    San Pedro Apostol, Mexico
  •  education
    Ali Apple Elementary School
    Ali, China
  •  emergency shelter
    Pallet Garage
    Indianapolis, U.S.A.
  •  housing
    Ciudadelas de Paz - Building for Peace
    Manaure, Cesar, Colombia
  •  education
    Community School in N'Tyeani
    N'tyeani, Mali
  •  urban planning
    Parque El Óvalo - Pamplona Alta (Lima, Perú)
    Lima, Peru
  •  housing
    Le Village Noir
    Gatlang, Nepal
  •  education
    Adharshila School Extension Project
    Agara Village, Sheopur District, Madhya Pradesh, India
  •  meeting place
    (CON)VIVENCIAS
    Lima, Peru
  •  housing
    "After the rain comes..."
    Msitu wa Tembo, Tanzania
  •  emergency shelter
    Temporary Dormitories for Mae Tao Clinic
    Mae Sot, Thailand
  •  education
    Kusikuna Eco-Active School
    Apote - Tiquipaya, Bolivia
  •  meeting place
    CICADA
    Taipei, Taiwan
  •  health & sanitation
    Kapuna Hospital
    Kapuna, Papua New Guinea
  •  education
    Children's Centre XEWA SOWE
    Village of Sowé (Glazoué), Benin
  •  housing
    Batak Toba Houses
    Lake Toba, Indonesia
  •  education
    P'Yan School Project
    Mae Sot, Thailand
  •  education
    LA VIEJA
    Montebello, Cali, Colombia
  •  housing
    Kampung Kali Chode, Yogyakarta
    Yogyakarta, Indonesia
  •  meeting place
    Kazi na Bobo - community shop built with plastic bottles
    Msitu wa Tembo, Tanzania
  •  meeting place
    Jabu Centre
    Siteki, Swaziland
  •  education
    Community Learning Centre in Pasman Tol
    Pasman Tol, Nepal
  •  infrastructure
    Infrastructure to support the indigenous community
    Santo Angelo, Brazil
  • play
     housing
    Orphanage for former streetboys
    Nairobi, Kenya
  •  housing
    A Casa de Abuela Cuentacuentos
    Escobilla, Mexico
  •  education
    Upgrading of Nile River School
    South of Giza governorate, Egypt
  •  recreation & sport
    sport clubhouse Kalobeyei, Kenya
    Kalobeyei, Kenya
  •  housing
    Post-Tsunami Rehabilitation
    Kirinda, Sri Lanka
  •  education
    Bamboo Kindergarten
    Tasikmalaya, Indonesia
  •  education
    Bamboo Alternative School
    Bogor, Indonesia
  •  housing
    Naust paa Aure
    Aure, Norway
  • finalist 2016
     education
    ModSkool
    New Delhi, India
  •  meeting place
    Community Learning Center Corralones
    Sacaba, Bolivia
  •  infrastructure
    Community School in Darmang, Ghana
    Damang, Ghana
  •  housing
    Open Source House Pilot
    Cape Coast, Ghana
  •  emergency shelter
    SBAM.it 2011
    Massarosa-Stiava (LU), Italy
  • play
     meeting place
    Sunzu Village Community Center
    Burera, Rwanda
  • GC2022 finalist
     work & business
    The Women's House of Imloul
    Imloul, Morocco
  • play
     meeting place
    StadtGoesFuture-Culthäusle
    Filderstadt-Plattenhardt, Germany
  •  housing
    CASA RANA
    Tamil Nadu, India
  •  education
    Njoro Children's Library
    Mailisita, Kilimanjaro , Tanzania
  •  meeting place
    Palomino Border
    Palomino, Guajira, Colombia
  • play
     health & sanitation
    Kamuna agricultural rehabilitation centre
    Kamuna, Cankuzo, Burundi
  •  housing
    BAMBÚ SOCIAL
    El Rama, Nicaragua
  •  education
    Trade School in Guatemala
    Cerro la Granadilla (San Raimundo), Guatemala
  •  housing
    Rural Housing Development Program
    Chitrawad, Gujarat, India
  •  meeting place
    Community Center in Jatimulyo
    Yogyakarta, Indonesia
  •  infrastructure
    Bamboo Bridge in Solo
    Solo, Indonesia
  •  education
    Transforming Learning Spaces in Rwanda
    Muhanga, Rwanda
  •  recreation & sport
    Sport City
    Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico
  • play
    GC2022 finalist
     education
    Book House
    China
  •  education
    Training Center for Mae Tao Clinic
    Mae Sot, Thailand
  • GC2021 finalist
     agriculture & fisheries
    Cocina CoLaboratorio
    Ejido Loma Bonita, Mexico
  •  work & business
    Sembalun Bamboo Youth Development Centre
    Lombok, Indonesia
  •  housing
    House of Plenty
    Nijmegen, Netherlands
  •  health & sanitation
    Hygiene Station for Cattlefield Village School
    Yunnan, China
  • GC2021 finalist
     education
    A School Built By the People, For The People
    Jorhat, India
  •  education
    Bamboo Panyaden School
    Chiang Mai, Thailand
  •  meeting place
    Farmers' Innovation Center (BLF)
    Angangba (Nagaland), India
  •  education
    Impact Pavilion Ibadan: Connect, Learn, Thrive
    Alaka Community, Ojoo, Ibadan, Nigeria
  •  meeting place
    Tusen Restaurante
    Ramundberget, Sweden
  •  meeting place
    Iche_Food for thought: a hub for glocal innovation
    San Vicente, Ecuador
  •  education
    Jubilant Tree School
    Moshi, Tanzania
  •  urban planning
    The Self-made Dwelling
    Dharavi, India
  •  infrastructure
    Taxi Rank
    Magagula Heights, Katlehong, South Africa
  •  education
    Ithuba Community College
    Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa
next