![Usagui Teahouse / Kazuya Morita Architecture Studio - Table, Beam](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/50bc/b720/b3fc/4b22/ed00/015f/newsletter/_MG_6929_.jpg?1414180116)
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Architects: Kazuya Morita Architecture Studio
- Year: 2012
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Photographs:Daisuke Nakashima
![Usagui Teahouse / Kazuya Morita Architecture Studio - Brick, Shelving, Countertop](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/50bc/b71d/b3fc/4b22/ed00/015b/newsletter/120803_031_.jpg?1414180105)
Text description provided by the architects. This project was an interior design for a Japanese tearoom in Gracia area, Barcelona.
![Usagui Teahouse / Kazuya Morita Architecture Studio - Table, Windows, Wood, Beam](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/50bc/b71f/b3fc/4b22/ed00/015c/newsletter/120803_002_.jpg?1414180110)
The materials used in the previous interior (the site was formerly an Italian restaurant) were dismantled and removed, so as to reveal the brick walls and ceilings, which are typical of architectural structures in Barcelona. The interior was then formulated with the minimum of intervention.
![Usagui Teahouse / Kazuya Morita Architecture Studio - Door, Table, Windows, Chair](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/50bc/b720/b3fc/4b22/ed00/015e/newsletter/_MG_6936_.jpg?1414180108)
We determined three critical elements for the design process: ´Tea´, by ´Japanese´, in ´Barcelona´, each of which are represented by a spatial element. The red colored Chinese shelf represents the origin of tea; the white counter, the sense of beauty associated with Japanese tea culture, and the exposed brick structures, Barcelona where this tearoom installed. None of the typical Japanese interior design elements, such as ‘shoji’ screens or ‘tatami’ mats were included, as we aimed to create a solution which would be specific interior space to its context. The white counter was finished by white plaster with the application of the technique which is often used for white walls of Japanese traditional architecture.
![Usagui Teahouse / Kazuya Morita Architecture Studio - Table, Chair, Beam](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/50be/0bf2/b3fc/4b4f/e600/0064/newsletter/120803_077.jpg?1414180119)
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/50be/0c04/b3fc/4b4f/e600/0065/medium_jpg/plan_(1).jpg?1414180121)