LOTUS AND BAMBOO TEA ROOM

The Chinese tea culture spans thousands of years – four thousand, to be exact. Preparing and consuming tea is a ritual in itself. There are various reasons, apart from the obvious, why the Chinese take their tea seriously. For instance, tea is consumed as an apologetic gesture, to celebrate family gatherings, to show respect, to express thanks to elders on one’s wedding day or to connect large families on wedding days. So, it is only natural that every aspect of tea making and consuming, including a room in which takes place, is carefully thought out. Which brings us to an amazing project designed by a Shanghai-based studio Minax and architect Lu Zhigang called ‘Lotus and Bamboo Tea room’.

The project was exhibited at 2014 International Aquilaria Culture Exposition and Living Space Exhibition in China and it is spectacular. Lotus and Bamboo Tea Room is decorated with 500 pieces of bamboo measuring six centimeters in diameter, all of different length. The bamboo pieces are organized in such way that they resemble vertical pipes closely following the ellipse-like shape of the exhibition area. Some of the bamboo tubes have spot lamps creating wonderful optical effects.

In the centre of the Lotus and Bamboo Tea Room is a long table called qushui (it means „winding creek” in Chinese language). The table is decorated with beautifully crafted wooden lotus flowers layered with water which flow through carefully carved canals thus becoming the focal point of the table. An ethereal combination of bamboo, light, wood and tea give the room a multi-layered and multi-dimensional sense and create a peaceful atmosphere inside the area, all with the purpose of bringing man closer to nature and its harmonious energy. [via]