A tea House in Xiba Town
When we first planned Huadou two years ago, we began with an expedition to the famous tofu town, Xiba, in Sichuan, China. Together with Alter the Air design studio, we began to document the traditional methods of tofu-making, as well as the vivid marketplace lifestyle of the markets and the local families that inhabit them.
In our store, you will immediately be taken aback by the design of our interior. It is a place where light and shadow are perfectly balanced, creating an experience that is both transcendent and meditative.
The bamboo chair is a symbol of both the Sichuan Tea House and of leisure in general. Made only from fresh bamboo shoots, the design of this chair aroused our interest and complimented the aesthetics of our store. Sichuan was originally the hometown of bamboo, and the local people have created numerous products from this material.
However, with the effects of industrialisation, and the overabundance of Eucalyptus being planted in surrounding areas, a tree that grows quickly and exhausts soil fertility, the bamboo forests have slowly been replaced in large areas. In 2000, through governmental guidance, the Eucalyptus tree became the main source of plywood and paper in southern China. As a result of the large scale and uncontrolled planting that followed, the surrounding areas experienced a destruction of their natural ecological balance.
As part of our research, we visited Master Huang, one of the few traditional craftsmen who is still hand-making bamboo chairs in Xiba Town, recording his process to preserve the cultural legacy of the craft. It took Master Huang a whole morning to make a chair. Every part of the chair was assembled from bamboo, even the dowels. The ingenious craftsmanship and constructional consideration of this work continues to inspire contemporary designers today.
Our Research into Bamboo evoked many thoughts in us. We reflected upon the ecological recovery of the environment and the restoration of the Bamboo forests, the use of natural resources in order to minimize the CO2 output, and finally on how furniture can influence one's mood and the environment.
For us, the bamboo chair is in some respect a reminder of the post-industrial age.
05.2020
