Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E , Case A, Shelf 212

Design

2009 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Using the landscape of the Museum as a test site, the V&A invited nineteen architects to submit proposals for structures that examine notions of refuge and retreat. Responding to specific locations in the Museum, the architects explored themes such as study, work, play, performance and contemplation. Seven of the proposals were then selected for construction at full-scale.

These projects promoted an attitude to architecture where to 'dwell' meant something more than simply to find shelter. Each building invited the participation of the viewer. These immersive environments reawakened people's ability to inhabit architectural space on both a physical and an emotional level.

Much of Terunobu Fujimori’s architecture aims to reconfigure our view of the natural landscape around us. Reaching this ‘floating’ teahouse via a ladder, visitors are rewarded with an elevated view of the surrounding galleries. The charred, blackened timber exterior, with its textured and tactile surface, represents an extreme of materiality. The process of burning the wood also acts to preserve the building material, thus increasing the structure’s lifespan.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Pencil on paper
Brief description
Design by Terunobu Fujimori for the 'Beetle's House', built for the V&A exhibition '1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces,' 2010
Physical description
Design in pencil on squared paper for the 'Beetle's House' project ('The Retreat Floating in the Air'), showing the house on legs, with an outline figure. Indicated scale 1/40.
Dimensions
  • Height: 29.7cm
  • Width: 21cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • If not suspended, legs are needed
  • 1/40
Credit line
Given by Terunobu Fujimori
Subject depicted
Association
Summary
Using the landscape of the Museum as a test site, the V&A invited nineteen architects to submit proposals for structures that examine notions of refuge and retreat. Responding to specific locations in the Museum, the architects explored themes such as study, work, play, performance and contemplation. Seven of the proposals were then selected for construction at full-scale.

These projects promoted an attitude to architecture where to 'dwell' meant something more than simply to find shelter. Each building invited the participation of the viewer. These immersive environments reawakened people's ability to inhabit architectural space on both a physical and an emotional level.

Much of Terunobu Fujimori’s architecture aims to reconfigure our view of the natural landscape around us. Reaching this ‘floating’ teahouse via a ladder, visitors are rewarded with an elevated view of the surrounding galleries. The charred, blackened timber exterior, with its textured and tactile surface, represents an extreme of materiality. The process of burning the wood also acts to preserve the building material, thus increasing the structure’s lifespan.
Collection
Accession number
E.185-2012

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Record createdFebruary 14, 2012
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