The Teahouse / A Cup of Tea
The Teahouse / A Cup of Tea A thesis submitted to the Graduate School of the
University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Architecture in the School of Architecture and Interior Design of the College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning on March 31, 2016 by
Ellen Margaret Crawford Bachelor of Arts in Architecture Miami University May 2008
Committee Chair: William Williams Committee Member: Vincent Sansalone
Abstract Our daily environments are filled with technology and noise due to our cultural preference toward spaces for collaboration and connection. As a result, favoritism is given to ocular-centric, open spaces without reflection on their cultural bias towards extroversion. The Teahouse offers the alternative by providing a quiet, intimate experience. Here, through the process of making, receiving, and drinking a cup of tea, retreat from today’s daily environments is encouraged, highlighted, and made to be of primary importance. This project challenges our cultural bias towards extroversion and offers an opportunity to unite experience with memory, ritual, and retreat.
Prologue There is a type of recurring architecture. It is unbound by movement. Though the style of it throughout time might differ, its embodied meaning derives from the same set of principles and desires. It was present from the onset. Perhaps varied, but always of concern. Once it came, it did not leave. Once it was known, it was, and is, and always was. I understood it first through the leaves of a great tree. The truck was hardly recognizable. The roots were unknown. The rain had not begun. Yet, the breeze brought gentleness and drew my eye to its story. My interest was held like the nagging of something not yet realized but intently held, only fuzzy still and not pronounced. Soon I was to discover the branch. The branch which held the cup. The cup which held the tea. In the holding came the ritual. And in the ritual came the retreat.
03
04
Setup The Rain
Causes a seeking of shelter
The Leaves
Offers the semblance of being inside
The Breeze
Evokes a certain memory, time, and place
The Trunk
Provides an interpretive journey
The Roots
Gathers and sends nutrients
The Branch
Place to be with it all
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The Leaves
Farnsworth House, Mies Van Der Rohe
Therme Vals, Peter Zumthor
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Precedents
Heidegger’s Hut, Germany
BUtterfly Huts, Thailand
07
THe Breeze
Concept
08
Considerations
09
Xavier University Cincinnati Zoo &
Botanical The Trunk & The Roots Gardens
Tri Health Good Sam. Hospital
Children’s Hospital VA Hospital Shriners Hospital UC Health
EPA
Site Location - City Scale
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
SITE
›
›
›› ›
››
›› ›
DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI
SITE
IN G 5 MIVIN DR
Driving Proximity
MCMILLAN ST
VI NE ST
AUBURN AVE
D ING R READ
I-75
I-71
SITE LIBERTY ST
›
›
5 MIN DRIVING RAL CENT
›› ›
››
›› ›
10 MIN DRIVING
Walking Proximity
SITE 10 MIN WALKING
›› ›
›› ›
30 MIN WALKING
››
›
› 20 MIN WALKING
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Site
Site Location - Neighborhood Scale
Mt. Auburn
SITE AREA
Prospect Hill
Neighborhood Residential Residential Pool House
College Library
Wooded Area
Attorney’s Office WLWT WLW News T
Baseball Field Neighborhood Pool Downtown Cincinnati
At North
One-Way
Possible SIte Entry Locations
Steps
At South
11
The Trunk & The Roots
East-West Site Section E-W
27’ 18’
North-SOuth Site Section N-S
25’ 12’
Existing Site Infrastructure
Playground
Wooded
12
Baseball field
Site
Possible Building Area
Least invasive possible building area to existing infrastructure Most secluded area on which to build
Illumination Hours
3600
22
24
SEP OCT N
G
AY
JUN JUL A U 00
3000
MA APR M
3200
2600
DEC JAN F E OV
B
2500
00
36
2100 00
00
27
3200
3000
Cloud Cover
61% 72
74
SEP OCT N
G
AY
JUN JUL A U %
58%
MA APR M
48%
FE
65%
OV
DEC JAN
B
65%
%
40
59% %
%
66
48%
13
56%
The Trunk & The Roots
Temperature
32°
3 3°
4
36° 8°
64
54°
SEP OCT N G
AY
JUN JUL A U 4°
57°
MA APR M
65°
B
42°
DEC JAN F E OV
°
7
68°
77°
Wind Speed/ Direction N
7 SW 8N
W
5S
7 SW W
6S
5 NE
SEP OCT N G
AY
JUN JUL A U S E/
7 SW/ NE
MA APR M
/NE 6 SW
B
/SW 8W
DEC JAN F E OV
-E
4N
/NE 5 SW
7 SW /S
Possible Building Location ALong Hillside
Along Hillside: - Close to playground & baseball field - Wooded buffer between building and city - Steep grade to build on
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Site
Possible Building Location AT FLat Areas
At Flat Area: - Wooded buffer between building and city could be maintained while allowing for more walkable areas around building - Sufficient seperation from adjacent buildings and public areas - Clear vegetation where views are desired
Ideal Building Location AT FLat areas Desired Building Site: At Flat Area - Location allows for walkable entry and parking - Vegetation can be cleared to allow for select views downtown
Ideal Building ENtry
Desired Entry to Building: At North - Allows for parking and accessible walking to building - Isolates downtown views from entry sequence
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The Branch
1 - Arriving 2 - Walking 3 - Approaching
Site Plan 32’ 0’ 8’ 16’
64’
N
4 - Arriving 5 - Calling 6 - Entering 7 - Shedding 8 - Choosing 9 - Boiling 10 - Meeting 11 - Steeping 12 - Being 13 - Disposing 14 - Returning 15 - Retrieving 16 - Exiting
8’ 0’ 2’ 4’
16
16’
N
Project Introduction
3
13
12
11 14
8 7/15
9
4/16
10
6
5
8’ Site & Floor Plans
0’ 2’ 4’
16’
N 17
The Branch
Presentation
18
Project Introduction
19
The Branch
Presentation
20
Project Introduction
21
The Branch
22
Presentation
Site Model
23
THe Branch
Scenes
1
Approaching
24
2
Arriving
3
Calling
4
Entering
5
Shedding
6
Scenes
Choosing
7
8
9
Meeting
Being
Disposing
25
THe Branch
1 - Approaching After parking your car and entering the site, you walk through a small open field. As the path veers left you enter through the treeline and descent down into the wooded hillside. The path becomes tentative. It is made uncomfortable by a lack of spatial familiarity to the new surroundings. The trees bring remedy. They are comfortable, nostalgic, intimate, and curious. As descent into the woods continues, the sound of footsteps eventually gives way to a small building.
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Scenes
2- Arriving A small field of flowers and a long, concrete patio is crossed before the wooden front door is reached. The door is big, heavy, and oversized, taking the full posture of your body to open. The room inside reveals a large window with a spectacular view of downtown. Here, the city is visually contained within the frame of its skyline, but past experience mentally associates it with its noises, fast pace, and density. As one turns to sit on the adjacent bench, their back turns away from the city.
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THe Branch
3 - Calling Waiting incurs by sitting on a single long, wooden bench in front of a plain wall. A cup of tea is yet to be found nor any indication of it seen. Only a single, unlit light bulb protrudes. The light bulb and adjacent doorway are the only things interrupting the plane of the vertical wall. When the light bulb turns on, the doorway is also lit indicating it is your turn to enter.
28
Scenes
5 - Shedding On the left is a widening hallway. Its walls are speckled with assorted cubbies of different sizes. A long opening with hangers inside is meant for coats. A curiously small one is meant for a phone. Other are meant for other unnecessary items: a purse, a briefcase, a book bag. You shed your belongings and leave them behind.
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THe Branch
6 - Choosing A hallway switchback reveals a built-in cupboard full of carefully placed cups. Even though the cups are all the same, the choice of which one you will reach for is pondered. A few steps past the cups are the tea leaves. Each tea has a short, corresponding description to aid in the choosing. You smell the teas as you choose.
30
Scenes
7 - Meeting The next space has only two objects: a chair and a place for the tea cup to receive its hot water. You place your cup under the spout, sit down, and wait. After some moments, the sound of water boiling begins. It continues to increase in sound until the water is slowly released into the awaiting tea below. Color, smell, warmth, and delicacy come forth as the hot water meets the tea.
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THe Branch
8 - Being When drinking your tea, you are with the tea in your being, its warmth and taste filtering through the body. However this changes, much as all things around us. It cools and no longer brings hesitation for fear of burning. It reveals new flavor as the leaves continue to steep in the water or as you add sugar, milk, and honey. It invites conversation and self-dictated pace. It is the telling of time and the progression of the day.
32
Scenes
9 - Disposing After drinking your tea, the cup is taken outside. It is thrown against a wall. Broken, it falls to the ground on top of the cups used prior. You remember you passed this wall while arriving, but now understand its bigger purpose within the landscape. Flowers dot the ground in front of the broken glass and around the wall. They welcome the flavors and leaves of the no longer needed tea.
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The Teahouse / A Cup of Tea
There is a type of recurring architecture. It is unbound by movement. Though the style of it throughout time might differ, its embodied meaning derives from the same set of principles and desires. It was present from the onset. Perhaps varied, but always of concern. Once it came, it did not leave. Once it was known, it was, and is, and always was an inside.
I understood it first through the leaves of a great tree. The truck was hardly recognizable. The roots were unknown. The rain had not begun. Yet, the breeze brought gentleness and drew my eye to its story. My interest was held like the nagging of something not yet realized but intently held, only fuzzy still and not pronounced the hut.
The hut was a type of teahouse. Not a teahouse of the past, but an experience looking towards the future.
Soon I was to discover(ed) the branch. The branch which held the cup. The cup which held the tea. In the holding came the ritual. And in the ritual came the
retreat.
The retreat came in the choosing, the making, and the drinking.