The Japanese Teahouse

_New edition of the standard work
_Background and principles
_Development from the beginning of Japanese tea culture to the present day
_With timeline and glossary

Japanese culture and architecture have always held a great fascination for the Western world. A very special traditional, architecturally complex building type at the intersection of diverse currents of Japanese philosophy, art, and aesthetics is the Japanese teahouse. It is a very private place of meditation, a space in which a host communicates with their guests through the medium of tea within the framework of a strictly regulated ceremony.

This newly reissued publication creates an understanding of the built space that makes this tea ceremony possible in the first place – only those invited are allowed to enter the teahouse. The author presents the philosophical and religious background, as well as the aesthetic and spatial principles. He embarks on a cultural-historical and architectural journey from its beginnings in the 15th century, when the art of the tea ceremony and its spaces were first documented, to the present day, as the construction of a teahouse in Japan is still considered a major challenge for designers and architects.