A Whimsical Teahouse Pops Up on a Grassy Mound in the Middle of Tokyo

Ahead of the 2020 Olympics, a peculiar structure has appeared in Tokyo overlooking the Japan National Stadium: a timber-clad teahouse sitting atop a grass-covered mound. This whimsical reimagining of a Japanese archetype is the work of renowned architect Terunobu Fujimori, and it will greet visitors until September 5 as part of the Pavilion Tokyo 2020 program.  

To access the teahouse—which has been given the name Go-an—visitors crawl inside a small opening in the grass mound, which leads to a waiting room. They then climb up a ladder to reach the main tea ceremony room. As you emerge from the darkness, a vista of the Japan National Stadium, designed by architect Kengo Kuma, appears through the large window. At night, when the lights are on, the teahouse appears as a large lantern amidst the urban landscape.

To access the teahouse—which has been given the name Go-an—visitors crawl inside a small opening in the grass mound, which leads to a waiting room. They then climb up a ladder to reach the main tea ceremony room. As you emerge from the darkness, a vista of the Japan National Stadium, designed by architect Kengo Kuma, appears through the large window. At night, when the lights are on, the teahouse appears as a large lantern amidst the urban landscape.

"I like heights," says Fujimori. "Not only can you see the entire teahouse well, but from there you can also view the stadium. A teahouse requires otherworldly characteristics. Instead of it just standing on the ground, it requires height. Once you climb up and enter through the narrow and dark crawl-in entrance, you see a completely different scenery."

Fujimori is a leading figure in Japan’s architecture scene who is well known as an author, cultural commentator, and TV host. He’s not only an architectural historian—perhaps best known for his studies of Western-style buildings in Tokyo in the 1970s and 1980s and his ongoing work documenting unusual occurrences in the urban landscape—but also one of the country’s most surprising architects.

He was born in 1946, and made his debut as an architect late in life, at the age of 45. His work is characterized by its use of natural materials and eccentric forms, and throughout his career he has created a number of what he calls "freestyle" teahouses—from a structure perched on stilts in a forest, to one suspended above the ground.