The ritual of relationships surrounding the traditional tea ceremony begins on the “roji” or path in the garden, where the guest lays aside his daily cares. Originally, the location of the actual ceremony was not always a house, but simply a demarcated realm. The historical form of the tea house developed in the 15th century from the tatami room and is usually square on plan with dimensions of roughly 7 x 7 feet. Shigeru Uchida has designed three tea houses of different structural forms: Ji-an, the house of perception; So-an, the house of composition; and Gyo-an, the house of memories. Built in bamboo with a Japanese paper lining in part, they can be dismantled and re-erected in various locations. The tea houses will be on view in Munich in November.