Edworthy Park Teahouse instructor: Catherine Hamel
A teahouse located on a slope in Edworthy Park, just off a hiking and bicycle trail in the woods, where an aquifer surfaces to become a small stream.
The materiality and placement of the intervention on the site creates a sense of it being a foreign and extraneous object, when viewed from the outside. From within, however, the spaces are harmoniously integrated with the surroundings, almost to point that they depend on the site for it's sounds, temperature, and views. read more
The climb up the hill slope builds anticipation in the visitor, making the cup of tea an ultimate reward for a little extra effort. Stairs continue the topography, carrying the visitor up to the tea bar - a glass box inside of a concrete shell. From here customers can proceed outside to the balcony, or downtairs and past the stream, to the bathroom.
An open balcony acts as the space for consumption, placing the tea drinker directly into the surrounding park environment. A single bench, spanning the length of the balcony, is at the same time the beam that supports the structure. How one sits on the bench determines the mode of interaction with other customers: facing the same way promotes conversation, facing the direction opposite to someone allows a small degree of privacy.
The rusting corten steel stains the concrete elements of thes tructure in the same way that tea and ink stain paper. Inside, used tea leafs are disposed into a trough, which drains down a concrete wall, creating an evolving artwork for the decoration of the bathroom.
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