The ryûrei style of tea, developed during the 1870s, uses tables and chairs to adapt to the modern living environment. Conventionally, the table where tea is prepared stands separately on its own, thus making the borderless communication between the host and the guests difficult. In his work Long Abode, Tanaka challenges this spatial constraint and transforms the table space into a bridge that organically unites the space of the host and that of the guest. The walls of the tearoom, part of which is constructed with columns of slender tree trunks, complement this long table. The meditative atmosphere inside the tearoom allows the guest to imagine and contemplate on the life cycle of a fallen tree in the deepest of woods.
Copyright © 2002 Asia Society
