“Shichyu No Sankyo”, a concept living space by Sony Life Space UX and The TEA-ROOM

What if your living room was a zen garden, an experiential tea ceremony room and a serene sanctuary hidden in the middle of the busiest district of Tokyo?

If you are a fan of modern Japanese culture and architecture or interested in the cross over of the tradition and technology, there is one place you have to go : the “Shichyu No Sankyo” exhibition in the 5th floor of Tokyo Ginza Building.

The Japanese art collective “The TEA-ROOM” has built this concept space “Shichyu No Sankyo” by bringing the essence and philosophy of the tea ceremony into the design of the living room, all in collaboration with Sony Life Space UX.

The exhibited space is open to public until January 2017 between 11:00–19:00.

This is one of the numerous projects led by the art collective “The TEA-ROOM”, whose aim is to create the future of the tea ceremony and innovate the 400 years old practice.

Inspired by “Shichyu No Sankyo” ( a Nature sanctuary in the city ) which is a philosophy that date from the famous tea master Sen-No-Rikyu, the space brings the silence of Nature into our unresting everyday environment of the city and invites the guests to enjoy the contrasting elements of Nature and the city.

As you enter the space, you are welcomed by a combination of a beautiful inner garden with a real tree that bloom at its center, and wooden roof structures inspired from traditional architecture.

As you step in further, you will soon notice the tea ceremony room which blends smoothly with the main living space decorated with 4K projection on the wall.

The concept is brought to life by the artist unit the TEA-ROOM which took part in the concept, experience and space design.

The expertise in traditional material and tea room design of Fumihiko Sano, one of the founders of the TEA-ROOM, can be seen reflected in the layout.

“The intention of the design was to blur the boundary of a conventional living space by blending different elements next to each other to express the concept of Shichyu No Sankyo ” explains Sano.

The other surprises seen in “Shichyu No Sankyo” are the various technology used to create the new Japanese living space experience, all made possible by the Sony Life Space UX products.

As you look closer, morphing projections of traditional shadow arts and Ukiyo-e decorate the walls at various locations.

Subtle sounds of autumn cricket and other melody from Nature can be heard from the Japanese lanterns, which in fact is a high quality sound LED speaker by Sony Life Space UX.

A novel calligraphy experience uses a small desktop short throw projector and invites the visitors to draw and play with light.

If you live in Tokyo or happen to visit the place during the winter, you can experience these novel Japanese living space and witness for yourself the various crossover of tradition and technology at the Sony Tokyo Ginza Building.

Photo by Koichiro Kutsuna