Jeju Island Tea House / Alvaro Sisa Vieira + Carlos Castanheira
+44
Text description provided by the architects. First, we built the house – Jeju House. Next, we were asked to design a tea house. What is a tea house? It was our first question. It is a great honor to be an architect, to take on new projects and new challenges. To solve something, study and learn.
As a barrier to the house, the clients purchased the site adjacent to the west, both to expand the gardens and also to build a place where guests could be received without compromising the privacy of the family and home. Extending something already created that everyone is happy with is a task that requires some thought.
The house already had an ‘annex’ – the caretaker’s house – which was perfectly integrated with the overall volumes, materials and functions. This new “supplement” cannot share the modest character of the supplement. It can’t be anything
Inferior, at the end of the garden, they are less constructive, and usually lack aesthetic interest. Customer demands, like ours, are always high.
Will we use the same materials? Same volumetric games? This seemed problematic, given the difference in the summary and in the client’s intentions. Curious, as always, about traditional architecture, in this case, Korean traditional architecture, we gathered information and visited the best examples, particularly the local ones on Jeju Island. These are masterful works. Especially those in timber.
And it seemed to us that the materials should be: stone, wood, and copper. We have prepared the first proposal, so as to check the summary and get a better understanding of the requirements and expectations. The site should be at the highest point of the site, where one can marvel at the sea and the horizon. The rest will be a landscaped garden. With the building in the center of the new site, we had to provide it with connections that could be quickly and easily perceived.
The summary is very simple. A spacious living space, where one can, festively, prepare, serve and taste precious tea, but also, with equal ceremonies, open a bottle and taste excellent wine. Therefore, we came to the realization that the rating of the Tea House is somewhat broader than its title. A bedroom to rest, but also somewhere where the visitor can spend the whole night with all the amenities. A bath, for typical Korean use, may be complete or partial.
The partitions are sliding screens, copying and interpreting beautiful traditional examples, allowing the bedroom to be either fully or partially enclosed, or fully open to the landscape. It is the same in the bathroom. Creating a game with virtually unlimited possibilities, allowing spaces to transform and change as different activities occur. Outside, there is a spacious covered veranda facing south and a large terrace facing east.
It was decided that the tea house would meet the earth with the stone; The volcanic stone in Jeju is almost black, and all its structures, partitions, and fixed furniture will be of wood. Copper sheets formed the roof covering. But how was this built? In Korea, knowledge of how to build in timber has been lost. Therefore, we proposed a scheme to carry out the construction work in a workshop in Portugal and then have all the prefabricated components shipped to be assembled on site. Our proposal was immediately accepted and we had a new challenge.
The wood we chose was Afizélia, or Dossié – afzélia pachyloba. The experience with Casa de Chá da Boa Nova – Alvaro Siza 1958-1963 – is valid, even in a location very close to the sea and in harsh weather conditions. We are so used to the fact that designing and building in Korea is easy and satisfying, as in Korea, the desire to do things well is rooted. It is now possible to manufacture woodwork near my office and home.
Deploying, testing, preparing, assembling and then disassembling, and in two containers, shipping to Korea. After that, we had to send over four Portuguese carpenters to reassemble. Although the language may seem like an obstacle, the masonry, concrete, and service installations went without problems; All project documentation has been correctly interpreted and followed. When the wood arrived, its erect condition was in the synchronized style of a pre-industrial plan, where the language is agreed upon and understood by all.
Everything is there but nothing is visible. As usual in our projects and buildings. All services required for absolute convenience are included, but they do not take responsibility. They are there but out of sight because they are unnecessary and ugly looking.
Communication in the house, on foot, should also be a natural thing, as if it were always there. There is a service connection upstairs and another road that allows, from the entry point to the house, to take a walk in the garden, or to reach the Tea House. A “door” connects the house and the tea house. The garden, designed by Seo-Ahn STL Total Landscape, the same landscape architect who designed the garden of the house, is one of those surprises that only happen in Korea because it is the result of experience accumulated over many centuries. It happened in the “blink of an eye” and it looks like it’s always been there.
Designing and building in this way is the dream of any architect. At least for those who dream. The reality is usually very different. Now I know what a tea house is and what you might drink there.
Porto Zurich December 11, 2021.
Carlos Castanheira
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