Naardermeer Tea hut
The project specifically seeks to explore how the essence of a traditional teahouse can be reinterpreted for modern society, while establishing connections to the community, soil and history of the Naardermeer area.
Tea Tree, Tea Treaty
The aims to develop a contemporary teahouse at the Meentwerf in Hilversum, a place for artistic and cultural exchange with a social function. The project specifically seeks to explore how the essence of a traditional teahouse can be reinterpreted for modern society, while establishing connections to the community, soil and history of the Naardermeer area. The teahouse will be constructed entirely from reused and recycled materials — including some original components from the Meentwerf Building, which was formerly a fire station — and local Naardermeer clay. Community involvement will play a key role in both the design and construction, actively engaging diverse groups such as people with early-onset dementia and those with visual impairments.
The project Naardermeer Tea Hut has been initiated by Haruka Matsuo, a Japanese artist/ designer, ceramist and tea master living in Hilversum. Her work, consisting of ceramics, drawings, installations and tea ceremonies, concentrates on that which is not tangible yet present, such as reflections in water, the atmosphere between objects, and the connection between people and/or between people and places. While incorporating a location’s history and its associated stories into her work, Haruka brings attention to the here and now, allowing observation of how the narrative of a place affects the present moment. In her tea ceremonies, Haruka uses local materials. For instance, for a tea ceremony at Het Pinetum in Hilversum, she used local sand as a mould for the plate on which the sweets were served. This carried a significant tribute to the town’s history: because of the sand, the ground could not originally be built on, and therefore coniferous trees collected from 30 different countries were planted in 1839. The roots of the trees ensured that the soil became suitable for building on, and that is why there are so many conifers in Hilversum. The city was built around these trees, some of which are more than 100 years old. For another tea ceremony, at the IJsselbiennale in Deventer, Haruka made a teapot from local clay that she dug up from the ‘uiterwaard’, the area between the summer and winter dykes by the IJssel River where water collects when the water level is high, and she made glazing from the ash of local trees.
A traditional Japanese tea ceremony responds to the environment. It is about sharing time and space in connection with nature. Haruka compares it to a natural phenomenon she was fascinated by as a child. Surrounding the famous Mount Fuji are eight small wells, varying in shape. The wells glisten from all the coins the Japanese throw in for good luck, and there are koi fish swimming in them. These fish are quite large, while the wells are small in size. Watching the fish appear and disappear, Haruka realised the wells are connected underground. This means the fish can swim invisibly from one well to another. Therein Haruka sees a parallel with the tea ceremony, in which people are invisibly connected by drinking tea, which is also water.
The tea ceremony does not force anything; it is a whole different way of connecting. Talking is not necessary (but is allowed) — the ritual constitutes a form of meditation that expands attention and helps bring this attention into daily life through an everyday means: tea. Until now, Haruka has performed all her tea ceremonies outdoors. For her new project, the Naardermeer Tea Hut, she aims to explore how a physical space — through its design, layout, and materials — can enhance participants’ sense of connection during the ceremony, by creating a site-specific teahouse in the Naardermeer area. Project content The project aims to develop a teahouse based on traditional Japanese principles adjusted to society today. A traditional teahouse is usually located in a garden, and the path leading to it is part of the mental preparation. Often this is a winding path that calms the mind. The teahouse itself has a small entrance, which requires everyone to bend down to enter. This act of bowing equalises the participants and provides a pause before the ceremony, after which they can (temporarily) leave behind their busy lives and worries.
The Hilversumse Meent is an area southeast of Naardermeer. The teahouse will be constructed in the garden of Stichting Meentwerf, a place for artistic and cultural exchange with a social function in Hilversum. Meentwerf is a five-minute walk away from grasslands and shallow ponds that play a role in the ecological connectivity between Naardermeer, a significant lowland peat bog area recognized for its high ecological value, and the Ankeveense Plassen. Walking through this area before entering the teahouse, could be a mental preparation similar to the Japanese tradition.
At the IJsselbiennale, Haruka performed her tea ceremony ten times in the same spot. After the fourth or fifth time, she noticed how the place started to constitute a space where participants more readily fell into a meditative state. This shows that concentration lingers. It is intangible and invisible, but present. The space between the corn plants became a small cosmos affecting how people move, breathe, and how they feel. With the Naardermeer Tea Hut, Haruka aims to explore how to create a space specifically for this purpose: for energy to linger, embedded in the found materials it is constructed with — including old parts from a former building, and clay from the Naardermeer — and added to by its visitors, who subtly evolve the space with each tea ceremony. The teahouse will connect to the environment and its people, not only through the construction process but also through its ongoing use, inviting the local community and other users to become part of its story. Research question: How can the principles of a traditional teahouse be translated to a sitespecific version of a teahouse for people today, while connecting to the local community, soil and history of a place?
The Hilversumse Meent is an area southeast of Naardermeer. The teahouse will be constructed in the garden of Stichting Meentwerf, a place for artistic and cultural exchange with a social function in Hilversum. Meentwerf is a five-minute walk away from grasslands and shallow ponds that play a role in the ecological connectivity between Naardermeer, a significant lowland peat bog area recognized for its high ecological value, and the Ankeveense Plassen. Walking through this area before entering the teahouse, could be a mental preparation similar to the Japanese tradition.
At the IJsselbiennale, Haruka performed her tea ceremony ten times in the same spot. After the fourth or fifth time, she noticed how the place started to constitute a space where participants more readily fell into a meditative state. This shows that concentration lingers. It is intangible and invisible, but present. The space between the corn plants became a small cosmos affecting how people move, breathe, and how they feel. With the Naardermeer Tea Hut, Haruka aims to explore how to create a space specifically for this purpose: for energy to linger, embedded in the found materials it is constructed with — including old parts from a former building, and clay from the Naardermeer — and added to by its visitors, who subtly evolve the space with each tea ceremony. The teahouse will connect to the environment and its people, not only through the construction process but also through its ongoing use, inviting the local community and other users to become part of its story. Research question: How can the principles of a traditional teahouse be translated to a sitespecific version of a teahouse for people today, while connecting to the local community, soil and history of a place?
This project is currently ongoing and will be realized in 2025 with funding from the Stimulering Fonds. If you are interested in this project and would like to sponsor, cooperate or provide funding, please contact us.
Haruka Matsuo