Here are six reasons why I think that the amazing Takasugi-an Teahouse is, nevertheless, somewhere I’d never be caught dead, despite my love of tea:
1. It’s built atop two chestnut trees that were chopped down, so no roots, just engineering.
2. You can only get inside by using free-standing ladders.
3. It sways.
4. Tea is apparently brewed over an open fire.
5. I don’t see no safety nets.
6. Its name. When the architect and owner, Terunobu Fujimori, set it up in Chino City, in the Nagano Prefecture in Japan, he called it Takasugi-an, which roughly translates as “tea house that’s too high.” Now there’s a vote of confidence.
Lots more information and plenty of Edmund Sumner’s great pictures over at Dezeen. [Dezeen]
Dr_Stef
Friday, March 13, 2009 at 3:33 PMI wonder how the teahouse copes with high winds
phiafly
Friday, March 13, 2009 at 8:58 PMIt’s a teatree
Snotty
Friday, March 13, 2009 at 10:02 PMYou don’t see no ladders?! What grammar teacher teached you?
JP
Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 2:12 PMin relation to the meaning of the words,
taka – contraction of the word takai (高い), meaning tall
sugi – contraction of sugiru （すぎる）, a verb meaning too much, or excessive.
Used in a sentence, you would write ‘高すぎる’ but when used in isolation, or in a named thing, then contractions are expected, hence ‘高すぎ’
Andrew L
Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 8:52 PMNow the tea has just got to be fantastic, surely? ….
Jeff W
Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 10:56 PMProbably better than its occupants