Beyond sourcing what was available on site, architect Tsuyoshi Tane teamed up with local craftsmen to build the Tane Garden House at the VITRA Campus using sustainable techniques and resources.
Tucked between the Umbrella House and Oudolf Garten, the structure takes shape as a compact, octagonal wooden shed that spans 15 square meters and accommodates around 8 people. Topping it is a viewing platform that can be accessed by an outdoor staircase, framing views of the surroundings.
The resulting composition and building form allude to a primitive hut, one where architecture is kept simple, warm, and inviting for visitors.
The stone and wood used in the house, for example, were sourced locally and only transported a short distance: 28 km for the granite stone (from the quarry to the stonecutter and finally to the Vitra Campus) and 50 km for the wood ( from the local forest to the factory and finally to the campus).
Tane Garden House on the Vitra Campus by ATTA. Photograph by Julien Lanoo.
Tane Garden House on the Vitra Campus by ATTA. Photograph by Julien Lanoo.
Tucked between the Umbrella House and Oudolf Garten, the structure takes shape as a compact, octagonal wooden shed that spans 15 square meters and accommodates around 8 people. Topping it is a viewing platform that can be accessed by an outdoor staircase, framing views of the surroundings.
The resulting composition and building form allude to a primitive hut, one where architecture is kept simple, warm, and inviting for visitors.
The stone and wood used in the house, for example, were sourced locally and only transported a short distance: 28 km for the granite stone (from the quarry to the stonecutter and finally to the Vitra Campus) and 50 km for the wood ( from the local forest to the factory and finally to the campus).
Tane Garden House on the Vitra Campus by ATTA. Photograph by Julien Lanoo.
"Like archaeologists, we begin a long process of exploration and digging up the memory of a place. It is a process of surprise and discovery, a quest to encounter things we did not know, what we had forgotten, and what has been lost through modernization and globalization. I believe that a place will always have memories deeply embedded in the ground and in history. And that this memory does not belong to the past, but is the driving force that creates architecture. Through this process of thinking about the future from the memory of a place, archaeology gradually becomes architecture."
Tsuyoshi Tane.
Nearby, the VITRA Campus is building a kitchen garden accessible to its employees. With all these programs set in place, the Tane Garden House ultimately comes to life as a meeting room and workshop space for gardening and culinary activities.
Tsuyoshi Tane’s addition to the campus is the fourth by an architect of Japanese descent, after the Umbrella House by Kazuo Shinohara, the Conference Pavilion by Tadao Ando, and the Factory Building by SANAA.
In autumn 2023, a special exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum Gallery will present information on the work of Tsuyoshi Tane and his Garden House project.
