Sukiya-zukuri

Sukiya-zukuri (数寄屋造り) is one type of Japanese residential architectural style. Suki (ateji: 数寄 or 数奇) means refined, well cultivated taste and delight in elegant pursuits, and refers to enjoyment of the exquisitely performed tea ceremony.

The word originally meant a small structure for the Japanese tea ceremony (known as a chashitsu) and was associated with ikebana and other Japanese traditional arts. It has come to indicate a style of designing public facilities and private homes based on tea house aesthetics.

Historically and by tradition, sukiya-zukuri is characterised by a use of natural materials, especially wood. In contemporary architecture, its formal and spatial concepts are kept alive in modern materials such as steel, glass and concrete.