Towering Shipping Container Tea House Fuses Land and Sky

 

by Andrew Michler, 10/01/10

filed under: Architecture, Prefab Housing

When you think of a tea house, a traditional low-slung thatched roof, post and beam structure may come to mind — this incredible Sky is the Limit tea house overlooking the Sea of Japan is an entirely new take on the traditional structure. Designed by Mesarchitecture, the provocative building is composed of two simple converted shipping containers that are projected 20 meters above the land, rising above the rough seas in Yang Yang, South Korea.

The tea houses consists of two separate spaces that mirror each other — the architects refer to them as a “bicephalous head”. Stretching the anatomical analogy, the supporting braces and stairway are expressed as an arachnid or fragile skeleton. Each ‘head’ offers a different experience — one is almost entirely transparent and the other features a wooden interior with windows at the end. The seascapes photos of Hiroshi Sugimoto come to mind as the contemplative nature of the Sky is the Limit tea house fuses land and sky.

Read more: Towering Shipping Container Tea House Fuses Land and Sky | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World