Living on a Limb Apr 26, 2009
Roman emperor Caligula had one. The Medici dynasty filled theirs with marble. Dutch surrealist painter Hieronymous Bosch imagined one in Hell. Perhaps it's an echo of childhood, but treehouses have always captured the imagination of those who create, design, and build.
Some treehouse designers have themselves become the stuff of legend. Such as Bob Redman, who in the 1980s managed to build 12 unique models in New York's Central Park before authorities put the kibosh on his covert beavering.
One of the most ambitious versions is the structure built by Pete Nelson: a spectacular octagonal treehouse almost 10 metres up an old-growth fir on Saltspring Island in British Columbia and featuring a 20sqm floor plan, cedar panelling and leaded French doors.
Likewise the spectacular Alnwick Gardens treehouse in northern England which opened to the public in early 2005. Designed and managed by Napper Architects, it houses a large restaurant and meeting space, plus smaller outbuildings, all above the ground and wheelchair accessible. Due to the building's size, it is held up not by the trees, but a combination of wooden braces, concrete foundations and two concrete towers.
Even Rodney, here in New Zealand with the help of The Building Intelligence Group, has a treehouse, notable not only for its unique engineering, but the timeframe of just four months within which it was created for a reality television campaign (see main article).
A distinctly modern interpretation of the treehouse is the rooftop prefab. As population density and real estate prices rise in the vertical landscapes of our cities, the only way really is up. Enter Werner Aisslinger's Loftcube. At US$55,000, it's specifically designed for rooftops, having a parasitic relationship with its host building and is transportable by helicopter. Its toughest competition, the WeeHouse, is a tiny, economical pod that can be adhered to most sites, including rooftops. What it lacks in space, it makes up for in cleverness. Framed with steel and wood, it comes with tongue-and-groove bamboo flooring, matched with Ikea joinery, kitchens and sinks.
These examples provide plenty of living ideas to help us meet 21st century needs for comfort, economy and sustainability. They simply require a little thinking above the square.