Wednesday June 27, 2018 | 2 comments
The 2017 GRAMMY Awards gift bag is worth $30,000, including an $8,000 spa package. The organizer chose not to disclose this year’s value.
How are these swag bags distributed? They could not possibly be handed out right after the award ceremony, near the theatre exit, before the evening gown-clad attendees board the limousine to go home or after-party. Inside a gift lounge, every item is prominently displayed at its own booth where marketing representatives incessantly advertise and promote, hoping to obtain one more endorsement.
Last year, the OKAWA 1536 Project presented its version of portable tearoom MuJyoAn (無常庵) at the GRAMMY gift lounge. Only the OKAWA 1536 Lamp Shade, not an entire tearoom, was gifted to each recipient. MuJyoAn could be assembled in about an hour; no nail is necessary; some gentle hammering seems unavoidable. China’s Forbidden City employed building brackets called dougong (斗拱) in vast-scale structures that withstood 200 earthquakes through multiple dynasties, perfecting the interlocking technique!
Tearooms have been prefabricated, made portable, for centuries. In 1586, Japanese warlord Hideyoshi Toyotomi dismantled, transported, and re-assembled his Golden Tea Room – the size of three tatami and consisting of gold ceilings and walls – at the Imperial Palace when he served the emperor a cup of tea.
Since T Ching published my post Backyard Teahouse in 2016, the State of California has relaxed some of its backyard building regulations in order to combat housing shortage and homelessness.
Main image from website. Preview image provided by author.
How interesting that a portable tea house was given to Grammy winners. I am curious what the cost of such a wonderful structure might be. I think of portable structures being a recent creation but it’s fascinating to me that they have been in use for centuries in China. Thanks for this enlightening post.
Michelle, they just got the lamp shade. I wonder what they’d have to do to actually get the tea house. ;)