Architecture’s Lessons from Japanese Teacups

aesthetics climate-based design passive design seasonal design Dec 21, 2023

One of my all-time favorite projects from ceramics class in high school was making both a winter and summer Japanese teacup. For some reason, this particular exercise remains instilled in my memory. I studied the Japanese language throughout high school, and during my senior year in ceramics I did a small research project about the Japanese tea ceremony and the teacup designs. Then, I made one of each the winter and summer teacups. I forget whether the wheel was used for these small designs or whether they were simply formed and shaped by hand. I also did not have the specific clay design mixtures that are used in traditional Japanese pottery, but either way, the results were delightful! 

The winter teacups are supposed to use a clay known as seki-to to better retain heat, while the summer teacup should be made with hagi-yaki clay because it is more porous. The clay mixtures are important in regard to functioning well with the concurrent seasonal temperatures (colder winters and warmer summers) providing the proper insulating or breathing properties for the tea. In addition to the clay mixtures, the form or morphology of each teacup is also very important and can help to further improve the necessary properties for the tea. Winter teacups are made with much thicker walls and have a bit of concave curvature, or an inward turn, at the lip. This combination helps to better retain the heat of the tea given the cooler surrounding air. Summer teacups are made with much thinner walls and have a slight bit of a convex shape, or an outward turn, at the lip. This combination helps to release the heat of the tea as a cooler temperature beverage is preferred during warmer days.

Overall, the winter teacup design is a bit like a heavy, hollow sphere while the summer teacup design is more like a lightweight, open cone. It is useful to study and observe such crafts and artforms from different cultures as a way to distill simple and beautiful principles for design in general. In this case, what I didn’t know at the time of my ceramics class exercise was that years later, when studying architecture, I would come to recognize the climate-based design principles that can scale and translate from teacup to building.

Since it is the winter solstice, and winter season, I thought it useful to share this story and reveal this relationship with others who may not be aware of these simple principles. In this case, one could imagine how the winter teacup, with its thick walls, compact form, and tendency for enclosure and heat retention would also make great sense for the design of a building in a cold climate. Cold climate architecture that functions passively, with minimal active systems, will be compact in form, utilize thick high-heat capacitance walls, and tightly enclose the interior spaces. This form enables the heat of the building that is generated internally to be retained as best as possible – just like the heat of the tea is kept warm in a winter teacup.

One could also imagine how the summer teacup, with its thin walls, V-shaped cross-section form, and tendency for opening outwards at its top would also make sense for some principles of building design in hot climates. While design for hot conditions does become more complex when the goal is to keep the interior spaces cool and ventilated, a few strategies can be learned from the summer teacup. The first is the porosity of the clay-mix for the walls – having porous clay can lend to breathability but the air entrainment can also be insulating. If the tea within the cup is already cold and the goal is to keep the tea cool, then having an insulating property in the walls of the teacup is important. The second principle is for the shape of the summer teacup, a sort of inverted cone. In the case of the tea, the cone serves to create greater surface area at the top of the tea volume so as to allow for more heat to be released. For buildings, heat naturally rises to the ceilings of interior spaces, so in hot climates providing outlets for heat to be released to the outdoors at the roofs is quite helpful. This can be difficult to do when the temperature differential is not in favor of the release of indoor heat, so at times a supplemental low-velocity fan can assist.

In addition to the building physics principles that can be adapted from the Japanese teacups, there are also more decorative design features that are unique. The colors and tones of the glazes for the winter teacups tend to be earthy and evoke the warmth or coziness for the season. Summer teacups will showcase lighter, more vibrant colors and patterns, mirroring the freshness and liveliness of summer. A huge takeaway for me is the overall appreciation that the craft depicts for the change of seasons and their influence on daily life, creating harmonious experiences (tea-drinking) that is connected to nature and the changing environment. The same can be said for architecture that does the same – blending with its environment, changing and adapting with the seasons, and aligning the experiences of climate and ritual. I will always be looking for great examples of buildings or instances of design that relay these types of qualities and acknowledgements.

If you are interested in optimizing the design of your home for your climate through renovation or new build, reach out to AIDA, LLC today for a consultationYou can always find more information and healthy home resources at Aletheia Ida Design and Architecture, LLC (AIDA, LLC) at www.aletheiaida.com.