Shixi is a humanistic lifestyle aesthetics hall centered around tea. It not only builds a tea-drinking living scene for furniture brands but also meets the needs of craftsmen, artists, and cultural institutions from all over the world to hold art exhibitions, salons, and other cultural activities. Therefore, YiSuo conducted a reflection on the characteristics of the space, exploring the inherent deep structural relationship between people and space, as well as tea-drinking activities from the perspective of experience.

Tea and Life

In modern urban life, we strive to play the role of an efficient, rigorous, and perfect "ego", while the relaxed, casual, and pleasure-seeking "id" often have nowhere to go. When our thinking restricts our experiences too much, we can no longer feel the vitality of life, and we cannot achieve completeness in this seemingly correct but barren world. Tea, as a social activity and life ritual, has been engraved in the memory of Chinese people since ancient times, and the moderate Eastern philosophy it reveals answers people's questions about rules and freedom in different eras.

The Contemporary Transformation of Eastern Lifestyle

The pursuit of tea goes beyond a relaxed environment, exquisite utensils, and high-quality tea leaves. Instead, it is about returning to the simple experience of life during the process of tasting tea. How can the Eastern lifestyle exist in the context of contemporary international cities? We do not believe that replicating traditional materials, patterns, and structures is a good solution. Instead, we choose to de-symbolize and use modern design language to preserve the Eastern artistic conception, thus extending the breadth and depth of the Shixi Tea Space in the city where Eastern and Western cultures blend.

If we were to compare the space to a malleable texture of soil, we hope that Shixi Tea Space gives people the impression of a richly layered, purple clay mud. The silhouette of brewing tea between the landscapes presented under the window lights attracts the curiosity of passers-by. Walking through it, the winding path and semi-covered space respond to the subtle and reserved character of the East while also guiding guests to naturally pass through the seven different themed tea-drinking living scenes.

Mortise and Tenon Joints

The curved wall, like a three-dimensional calligraphy stroke, boldly falls in the center of the space. The exhibition stand is directly wedged into the tenon joint of the space, connecting the calligraphic strokes scattered around the space as a partition. The seemingly static space begins to burst with vast energy.

Praise of Shadows

The night pearl emits radiance only when placed in darkness, while gemstones lose their charm when exposed to sunlight. Bright colors are more aggressive, while shadows perfectly match the reserved and peaceful character deep within the Eastern culture. The texture of space in Shixi quietly appears in the gradient of the purple clay, which perfectly fits the introverted and peaceful nature of the Eastern culture. Objects under shadows are completely different from those seen in bright backgrounds. People or objects become more conspicuous in subtle shadows, and in an exaggerated sense, it is as if life is being portrayed as a whole.

Shixi provides emotional value to people living in modern cities with its sophisticated interior hidden behind a simple exterior, giving people a place to relax and find refuge. We cannot escape reality, but we can find strength in the philosophy of life contained in tea, and each time we repair and rebuild ourselves, we become more resilient, more determined, and more peaceful.