The third and last project of 2nd year first semester was designing a tea house. At the time I was thinking about going to Europe for the summer or after my 2nd year, so I had been reading about architecture in Europe. Which means it is possible I got inspired by cathedrals/churches and catacomb of ancient Rome. It made sense to find a site that is somewhat connected to Christianity, and room for tea house to be built. Myeong-dong Cathedral in Seoul is built on a hill and space underneath the wide concrete ramp leading toward the cathedral seemed perfect to carve out for this project.

Top left three images are ancient catacombs; top right image is the site I chose – the concrete ramp leading to Myeong-dong Cathedral; image on the left of the top right image is Myeong-dong Cathedral.

Catacombs were underground burial place. Each grave would fit one or more bodies depending on its size. The idea was to consider these pods vertically to accommodate a seating place for one person.  People can come have tea in privacy and relax away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The outer envelope is glass to let daylight in; perhaps lesson claustrophobia from narrow space. Each pod is spaced out for privacy as shown in the sketch above and in the picture of the final model and drawings below.