The invitation was cryptic. A small piece of wood with a laser-burned message that read, "June 30, 2015. Please join us for tea and wishes overlooking the city. Sunrise, Griffith Park." — Los Angeles Times
It's a rather charming story: an anonymous collective of artists have fashioned a Japanese-inspired teahouse out of charred wood reclaimed from the 2007 Griffith Park fire and offered it as a gift to the city. Surreptitiously assembled in parts, the teahouse was inaugurated yesterday morning for a select group of the artists' friends and associates.
The invited guests were sent clandestine notes that led them, as if on a scavenger hunt, to the wooden structure at dawn. There, green tea and cookies were offered and a ceremony was performed. An opera signer sang in the distance.
Apparently, this isn't the first time the group – who isn't named – have created a work of guerrilla architecture. And if the safety-and-regulations angel on your shoulder is balking at potential liabilities, rest easy. According to the LA Times report, the structure was designed with help from professional woodworkers. The artists pegged the wooden structure to an existing concrete and rebar foundation, which was probably the remained of an old utility shack.
UPDATE: Because the teahouse was installed without official permission, there's a risk that it will be quickly demolished. Some of the folks behind the teahouse have started a petition asking city and park officials to save the structure. Sign it here.
10 Comments
guerilla house #30390
Hey @Orhan, could you send me more info on that? nicholas@archinect.com
http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/2y9nyi/a_homeless_mans_home_in_downtown_los_angeles/
btw, it was just a random choice by me. i see similar ones everyday and have a special interest in homeless domesticity and its readings.
Orhan,
Nice counter point.
Why guerilla?
'cause it's hip,sir!
what you kids did not know? as per Rebel without a clue or cause, James Dean .......disenfranchised has always been the most hip and cool? leather jackets and knifes..........of course the question is, what happens when the middle working class becomes disenfranchised?!?
you! you say one thing, he says another, and everybody changes back again!
/\ liberals.
you're tearing me APAAAAAAAAART!!!!1!
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