Ceramic House

The small café of a hundred square metres was imagined as a container. The design, by a Chinese practice, started from the shape of an ink stone from the Song dynasty, made purely for use, with one flat part for holding ink and one slope for letting it run.

The architect asked what one would see standing on the ink stone and what from below it. A ceramicist friend had made thousands of porcelain pieces, each with a curved slope underneath to stop the glaze dripping in the kiln. The ink stone and these pieces became the starting point.

The roof slopes from southeast to northwest, and trees grow on top of it. From inside, the view climbs the slope and disappears into the sky. Small holes in the east and west walls bring in wind and light, and a stair by the west door leads to the roof, with a view over the river.

Coloured porcelain pieces made by the friend are set irregularly on the inner and outer walls, showing the full range of colours in the country’s ceramics. A path runs straight through the building between its two doors.