Almost three years ago Rolf Fehlbaum, took architect Tsuyoshi Tane for a drive around Weil am Rhein, Germany, talking about his childhood and his memories of the fields on which the Vitra Campus can be found today. It was at this moment that the idea for a new structure was born: to develop the concept of the famous Manifesto of Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects (ATTA) “Archaeology of the Future”, which believes that the architecture is part of the place memory where is built.

On the occasion of Art Basel 2023 unveiled Tane Garden House, the work of Paris-based architecture studio ATTA (led by French-based Japanese architect Tsuyoshi Tane), as the new addition to its architectural landscape. A work representing an immersive garden structure that draws on ideas of nature and memory.
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.

"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.

More information

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Architects
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Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects. Lead architect.- Tsuyoshi Tane. Project architect.- Shota Yamamoto
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Project team
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Val Flanon, Niccolo Passarelli, Emily Jones, Koki Sawada.
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Collaborators
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Project Manager.- Valentino Pagani
Project Management.- Christian Germadnik - Vitra.
Structure Engineer.- Ingenieurbüro Autenrieth.
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Client
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Vitra.
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Dates
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June, 2023.
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Area
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15m².
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Venue / Localitation
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Vitra Campus. Weil am Rhein, Basel, Switzerland.
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Photography
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Julien Lanoo, courtesy of ATTA and Vitra.
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Tsuyoshi Tane is born in Tokyo, Japan, and founded ATTA - Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects in Paris in 2017 after being co-founder of DGT. Architects in 2006. He is recognized as one of the leading architects in the new generation for designing architecture through "The 20 essential young architects" by ICON magazine. Tsuyoshi believes in the idea of architecture belongs to a memory of a place that connects its past to the future as his concept - “Archaeology of the Future”.

In his career, he has received numerous awards and honors, including, Grand Prix AFEX - French Architects Overseas 2021 and 2016, the Jean-Dejean Prize of the French Academy of Architecture, the New Albums of Young Architects and Landscape (NAJAP 07-08) awarded by the French Ministry of Culture, Estonian Cultural Endowment Grand Prix, nomination for the European Union Mies van der Rohe Award 2017, the 67th Japanese Ministry new face Award of Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts, the 67th Mainichi Design Awards 2021 and many others.

Since 2020, Tsuyoshi is elected TOTO GALLERY·MA a new Committee member. He is frequently giving public talks and lectures and has been teaching at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) NY/Paris in 2012-2018 and is currently invited as visiting professor at Tama Art University.
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Published on: July 8, 2023
Cite: "Bringing together nature and memory. Tane Garden House on the Vitra Campus by ATTA" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/bringing-together-nature-and-memory-tane-garden-house-vitra-campus-atta> ISSN 1139-6415
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