{"id":11024,"date":"2026-01-11T13:31:35","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T13:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rutha.org\/index.php\/2026\/01\/11\/sloping-earthen-roof-tops-waiting-area-for-japanese-tea-room-by-kurosawa-kawara-ten\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T13:31:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T13:31:35","slug":"sloping-earthen-roof-tops-waiting-area-for-japanese-tea-room-by-kurosawa-kawara-ten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rutha.org\/index.php\/2026\/01\/11\/sloping-earthen-roof-tops-waiting-area-for-japanese-tea-room-by-kurosawa-kawara-ten\/","title":{"rendered":"Sloping earthen roof tops waiting area for Japanese tea room by Kurosawa Kawara-Ten"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sekiyuan<\/div>\n

Local studio Kurosawa Kawara-Ten<\/a> has completed a waiting area for the Sekiyuan tea room in Chiba<\/a>, Japan, sheltering it with a textured roof of mortar and soil<\/a> that will be gradually overgrown with moss<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Named Sekiyuan Waiting Area, the small timber pavilion contains a timber bench and was self-built by Kurosawa Kawara-Ten<\/a> with the tea room’s master, who is also a ceramicist and artist.<\/p>\n

The studio’s founder, Kenichi Kurosawa, described this DIY approach as part of an attempt to reintroduce a sense of the handcrafted into the city’s architecture, celebrating skills that he feels are at risk of being lost.<\/p>\n

\"Tea
Kurosawa Kawara-Ten has created a waiting area for Sekiyuan tea room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“When building an addition to an existing, functional structure, there is no urgent, life-or-death necessity. This allows the action of building itself to become the purpose,” Kurosawa told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“Currently, Japanese society faces a severe shortage of skilled building artisans. This project challenges the creation of new, distinct expressions of locality within the suburbs,” he explained.<\/p>\n

“In this context, whether DIY can become architecture and connect to culture is a major issue that will shape the future architectural environment.”<\/p>\n

\"Sekiyuan
The angled shelter contains a bench<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sekiyuan Waiting Area is framed by a narrow passage that leads from the nearby street into the tea room’s garden, forming part of a ceremonial entrance route known as the roji.<\/p>\n

This garden was designed by landscape designer Takeda-ya Sakuteiten and uses salvaged rocks and tiles as paving.<\/p>\n

\"Japanese
Its roof is designed to be overgrown by moss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A wooden fence at the edge of the site forms the back of the waiting area, which was built from four slender timber supports that sit on concrete and stone blocks.<\/p>\n

The angled form of the pavilion aligns with a raised timber deck outside the tea house, while the steep slope of its roof was designed to evoke the feeling of passing through a nijiri-guchi \u2013\u00a0<\/em>the traditional crawlspace used to enter tea rooms.<\/p>\n

This roof was coated with a mixture of mortar and soil excavated from the garden, which was lightly brushed to create a texture that will invite moss growth over time.<\/p>\n