Camelia Tea Room is part of Casa Besign 2019, located in Puebla. The space was recently transformed by Dos Veintinueve, a Mexican design office based in Puebla.
Connected by an outdoor terrace, the space is divided into two parts. Upon arrival, the first space features a wall and a water feature that goes through to the other side. Next, the outdoor space or terrace, has furniture, plants and archs of light, perfect for guests to move around and enjoy. The main space is home to the rest of the water feature and is lined with rusty metal sheets interrupted to generate a small wooden bench placed underneath the top of an upside down tree which crowns the space.
The space was originally used as a gathering place for friends and family, who used to sip tea here. Dos Veintinueve used this and the popular Chinese legend of how tea was discovered, as inspiration. As story goes, the Chinese Emperor Sheng Nung was resting under a wild tree when a light breeze blew a few leaves into a bowl of boiling water, creating an aromatic infusion that the Emperor tried and loved.
This, combined with the Asian Tea tradition, is what prompted Juskani Alonso to design a set of sculptural bowls, including four bowls of carved oak wood embedded in a monolithic body for support. The Camelia Bowls refer to the monolith (support), a nod to the vertical movement of the fall of the leaves and the bowls that refer to them. The bowls’ surface texture are inspired by the concentric waves generated by the water with the fall of the leaves.
Architectural and Interior Design: Dos Veintinueve, Adolfo Lara, Griselda Arteaga
Lighting Design: Lightkiin, Laura Guerrero
Furniture: MOOL
Decorative Pieces and Bowls Set: Estudio Juskani Alonso
Lamps: Siec Led, Chistian Miguel
Carpentry: Colectivo Clavacote, Enrique Juncos
Paint: Pinturas Comex
Air Fragrance: Air Aroma Mexico
Photos: Jaime Navarro