Our R&D project "Air's Furniture" is a spatial installation offering an airy, portable experience. By reworking on-site elements and portable items, we explore sustainable communication spaces. This work presents mobile furniture that lets you experience Japanese "Matcha" culture in an airy way.
What is Matcha?
In recent years, matcha has gained popularity worldwide in various forms: as a cultural experience of Japanese tea ceremonies, as a flavoring for drinks and sweets, and as a superfood known for its health benefits. However, with its rapid spread have come issues such as the proliferation of low-grade matcha and its recognition as an ingredient (flavor) rather than a beverage to be traditionally brewed and consumed. This has led to a limited understanding of matcha, with only certain aspects being emphasized.
The true flavors of matcha as a beverage, as well as its historical and agricultural background as a traditional product, are not fully appreciated, which poses a challenge in appreciating the full potential of matcha.
Together with "Yamamasa Koyamaen", a tea producer from Uji, Kyoto, with a lineage dating back to the Edo period, we have initiated a project to rediscover the diverse values of matcha by re-examining its origins as a beverage and its connection to the land.
Our Approach
Air's Furniture offers two experiences.
Farm to Table:
Designing an experience that brings tea from the fields of Uji, Kyoto, to dining
tables around the world in a tea chest.
Culture to Table:
A design process that unravels matcha from a cultural experience to a culinary experience from different perspectives.
Both experiences aim to bring the essence of matcha, rooted in Japan, to various parts of the world in the form of a tangible experience.
As a key material, we use the cedarwood tea chests that have been handed down from generation to generation at Koyamaen. Traditionally used to store and transport tea, these tea chests have been reimagined as portable chests that can be taken anywhere in the world.
