Inhabitat » Treehouses

World’s Tallest Treehouse Built From Reclaimed Wood

When God told Horace Burgess to build a treehouse, he promised that Burgess would never run out of materials. So far he hasn’t. Using tons of reclaimed wood, Burgess has built a 10 story treehouse in Crossville, Tennessee. Burgess claims it is the world’s largest treehouse and since no one has disputed him yet, his fantastic 100 foot tall structure continues its reign. Known as the Minister’s Treehouse, it should not be confused with the world’s tallest wooden building soon to be built, because its foundation is an 80-foot-tall white oak tree.

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Mobile Treehouse: Log Cabin on Wheels Sells for $12K on eBay

by Lea Bogdan, 09/23/09

Online auctions are an easy way to browse for a dream residence without the use of your four-wheel gas guzzler, but the recent sale of a particular mobile home is far from your ordinary listing. A lucky Australian bidder just won the ownership of a portable, yet grandiose, “log” cabin – literally made to emulate an enormous log. The auction winner paid AU$14,000 (just over 12k USD) for what is essentially a trailer measuring just over 42 feet in length that provides over 450sq ft of living space. The auction listing explains that the log is mobile – sitting on a truck bed equipped with wheels and brakes for easy towing – but that left us wondering about the unit’s green credentials, and exactly where did a huge log on wheels come from in the first place?

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ANIMAL WALL: Deluxe Apartments For Birds and Bats

by Lea Bogdan, 09/07/09

You don’t often hear about a wall being an object of desire, but that is exactly what Gitta Gschwendtner’s Animal Wall is for residents of all species in Cardiff Bay, UK. This 50-meter wall includes 1000 houses for birds and bats, and also acts as a textural and geometric sculptural divider between a residential development and a river front. Commissioned by Charles Church Developments, the wall took two-and-a-half years to construct, which is the same length of time it took to complete the housing that the wall shields.

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Baumraum’s Froschköenig Treehouse

by Olivia Chen, 08/28/09

Sitting atop thin steel stilts, the Froschköenig Treehouse conjures up ideas of a space pod just landed among a canopy of trees. Designed by well-known treehouse designer and manufacturer, Baumraum, the prefabricated treehouse features a futuristic, curved zinc roof enveloping a more rustic-feeling tatajuba wood foundation to create a whimsical hideaway for kids and adults.

Prefabricated Shelters Offer a Jungle Eco-Retreat

Sitting among the canopy of a jungle forest near Yelapa, Mexico, these V-Houses by Heinz Legler are quite possibly an eco-adventurer’s paradise. The treehouse-like structures are lofted 16 feet above the ground and open on all sides to offer panoramic views of the tropical surroundings. Although the rooms measure only 16 feet by 16 feet, a slanted ceiling and open walls make the treehouse seem larger — blurring the lines between indoors and outdoors. And to top off this eco-dream of a jungle retreat, the V-Houses were designed with modular components, made with sustainable materials, and have incorporated solar panels, composting toilets, and a greywater system.

World’s First Tower Made of Hundreds of Living Trees

Treehouses are nothing new to enterprising kids, but a group of architects at the University of Stuttgart in Germany have brought a new twist to the idea: the first tower made entirely out of living trees. The “baubotanical” building, which measures 9 meters high with a base area of 8 square meters, is made up of hundreds of White Willow plants, which will eventually fuse together to form a single, giant mega tree.

Living Growing Root Bridges Are 100% Natural Architecture

In the forests of Meghalaya, India, the War-Khasis people have discovered a patient way of crossing the many rivers of their wet region. By guiding the roots of an abundant species of rubber tree, they were able to create a living system of bridges that are in some cases over one hundred feet long and can support the weight of 50 people!

SNUGGLES: Stay in a Modular Hamster Tunnel Hotel

This modular, mobile Snuggles hotel allows you to shack up in pods for an artsy camping experience not dissimilar to staying in oversized hamster cage tunnels. The project crosses the boundaries of temporary architecture and public art with its linkable framework, configurable platforms, and waterproof textile coverings. Able to be set up on a beach, in the forest, or in an urban environment, Snuggles offers a fun experience that’s on par with even the trendiest hostels.

Ladonia: A Micronation Made of Driftwood and Nails

Looking for a change of scenery? Consider moving to Ladonia, a micronation made up of driftwood, nails, and nine-story wooden “fortresses” located in the southwest corner of Sweden. Designed by Lars Vilks, the mock nation consists of two works of art: Nimis, a maze of 70 tons of driftwood and nails, and Arx, a stone and concrete sculpture that looks like a melting sandcastle.

‘Landscape Apertura’ Treehouse Frames Nature Exquisitely

Robert McLaughlin’s ‘Landscape Apertura‘ treehouse near Kansas City, offers calculated views into nature via six strategically placed, vibrant green frames. Each frame is designed to capture a specific outlook, which enables one to appreciate and focus on a small perspective of the expansive great outdoors. As thoughtfully crafted as its outward gazes, Landscape Apertura …

Japanese Treetop Tea House is “Built Too High”

The Japanese certainly have a penchant for out-of-this-world tree-top architecture, and this incredible Takasugi-an tea house is no exception. Designed by architect Terunobu Fujimori, the tree-bound tea house stands precariously perched upon the trunks of two timbers erected on a plot of family land in Chino, Nagano Prefecture.

PREFAB FRIDAY: EcoCoon Retreats

Lofted high above in the trees, Mathier Collos’ EcoCoon retreats are a conceptual design for prefabricated housing. Each of the London-based architect’s cocoon-like pod is outfitted with an array of sustainable features including rainwater collection, a greywater system, and biomass heating. And depending on the type of tree used and the tree branching density, solar panels can also be integrated to help make these pods as eco-sensitive as possible. The two-story, split-level retreats can comfortably accommodate two adults or a small family and larger models may be able to act as a small, quaint hostel with several guests.

Raindrop Shaped Treetents by Dré Wapenaar

Sylvan housing reaches new heights with these wonderful dewdrop shaped Treetents by Dutch sculptor and designer Dré Wapenaar. Originally designed to ease the lives of tree-sitting activists, they also make excellent treetop retreats for campers, kids, and anyone soothed by an evening spent softly swaying among the branches. Each beautifully formed droplet attaches directly to a tree trunk and is roomy enough to sleep a family of four.

New Zealand’s Whimsical Yellow Treehouse Restaurant

The new Yellow Treehouse Restaurant by New Zealand based Pacific Environments Architects Ltd. (PEL) is a stunning architectural feat perched high above a redwood first. Appearing for all the world like an enormous chrysalis grafted onto a 40-meter-high redwood tree, the project is constructed of plantation poplar slats, redwood balustrading milled at the site, and makes extensive use of natural lighting throughout.

Up In the Trees: Madison Square Tree Huts

New York’s Madison Square Garden has taken on a Swiss-Family-Robinson feel lately. This is due to an art exhibition featuring work by Tadashi Kawamata called Madison Square Tree Huts, which emerged completed on October 2. A gathering of small wooden houses up in the trees, folks passing through the park might find themselves grinning upward with wonderment at these small structures meant to shake up our notion of public space and how it interacts with ideas of urbanity, rural romanticism and play.

Crazy Banyan Treehouse Cafe in Japan

Although this towering concrete treehouse isn’t really green, (unless tree imitation counts as ‘green’), we couldn’t help but be awestruck by its sheer craziness. We thought it worth a post, just for the picture alone. The Naha Harbor Diner in Okinawa, Japan is a life-size rendition of a banyan tree, also known as gajumaru. The aptly-named Banyan Town shopping center near the entrance of Onoyama Park features a twenty foot tall tree with a pan-Asian restaurant nestled amid its branches. Accessible by a spiral staircase around back and an in-trunk elevator, the restaurant specializes in locally grown and organic harvested foods fresh from the farm.

PREFAB FRIDAY: Retreat to an Ewok Eco Sphere in the Trees

What if we told you you could own your very own Ewok-meets-Aarnio hanging treehouse? Canada-based Tom Chudleigh creates these bubblicious Free Spirit Eco Spheres that sway amidst the coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest. Available for purchase or for rent, they offer a whimsical new way to experience the outdoors.

BAUMRAUM: Stunning Treehouse Designs from Germany

There’s nothing like a tree-top dwelling to conjure up gilded memories of childhood adventures and endless summers. It’s even better when they’re put together as wonderfully as the ones by Baumraum, who specialize in arboreal abodes. The beautiful tree house above is one of many from Baumraum, serenely sequestered amid the woodlands of Germany where they act as playgrounds, conference spaces, and restful retreats.

VIDEO: Grow a Treehouse with Terreform

We love treehouses here at Inhabitat and are enamored with eco-architect Mitchell Joachim’s visionary ideas about how to grow living treehouses from ficus molded around frame structures. We’ve covered these playful architectural ideas before on Inhabitat, but now we have a video from Mitchell Joachim explaining the details of how they work. Joachim does better justice to his imaginative ecological designs than we are able to do in a mere post, so if you have any interest in living treehouses (and we know you do), check out the video above.

O2 SUSTAINABILITY TREEHOUSE by Dustin Feider

As a nod to childhood treehouses and those good old days of youthful splendor, Dustin Feider obsessed himself with developing the perfect eco-friendly version of the tree sanctuary. After much trial and error, the 23-year old freelance furniture designer came up with a unique and green take on the conventional kiddie sanctuary which he dubbed the O2 Sustainability Treehouse. Inspired by the construction of Buckminster Fuller’s infamous geodesic dome, Feider discovered that by following Bucky’s lead, he could use less material and construct a more stable structure than that of the ‘traditional’ treehouse – most importantly, without at all harming the tree.

ULTIMATE TREE HOUSES AT THE DALLAS ARBORETUM

Leaves Imagination from HNTB & Brad Bell Studios

December marks the last month of the 13 extreme tree houses on display at the Dallas Arboretum. The Dallas Arboretum Ultimate Tree House exhibit is the result of a competition open to local architects in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex to design unique tree houses with regards to two rules…

4TREEHOUSE by Lukasz Kos

What is it about tree houses that we love so much? Their playfulness, the escapism they offer, and the platforms they provide into nature all come to mind. We have written about the 4Treehouse by Lukasz Kos before, but when we saw it again in this month’s Dwell, the gorgeous glowing image stopped us in our tracks. Posing as a Japanese lantern on stilts, Kos’ creation floats within the fir trees on Lake Muskoka, Ontario.

What’s more, the design frames spectacular views of the forest, from inside, out, down and up!

GROW YOUR OWN TREEHOUSE

Photo: Richard Reames, Arborsmith

There are houses built in trees and then there are treehouses. Last year, we had one of our first encounters with a home literally made from trees, using the art of weaving (and sometimes grafting) trees together to form structures — a practice ecological designer, Richard Reames, called “Arcorsculpture.” The Fab Tree Hab was one of the design entries for the Index: awards, emerging from the genius of a crew including MIT architect Mitchell Joachim and our friend, Javier Arbona of Archinect. The project description emphasized consideration of whole systems (and ecosystems) in creating a truly sustainable built environment, rather than a piecemeal approach that could yield uncertain longterm outcomes.

O2 SUSTAINABILITY TREEHOUSE

We’ve covered a lot of fusion tree houses: treehouse meets Jetsons; treehouse meets Modernism; treehouse meets biology experiment. Today, we’ve been introduced to a new pairing from O2 Sustainability: treehouse meets Buckminster Fuller.

Much like the classic treehouse, Bucky’s geodesic dome recalls childhood construction toys and youthful visions of rebuilding the world in a geometric, utopian image. Since both treehouses and geodesic domes smack of idealism and youthful fun – you know that the two were meant to come together at some point or another. It seems only fitting then that O2’s Sustainability Treehouse brings Bucky’s legacy into a living tree to create a high-flying eco-friendly structure.

ANDREW MAYNARD’S ACTIVIST ARCHITECTURE

Abandon your preconceptions of the architect as a quiet, bespeckled intellectual who cares more about sharp Italian suits and clean concrete lines than about saving trees. Here comes a new breed of architectural environmental activism in rising star Andrew Maynard, who has designed these awesome treehouses in order to protest logging.

The vigilant protection of endangered forests represents an enduring legacy of environmental activism, from the Chipko movement in India in the early 70s to Julia Butterfly Hill’s long sit in the redwoods. Few things deter a logger from felling a tree more effectively than a protester clinging fiercely to its trunk. Except maybe a protest structure that clings to three trunks at once.

BAUMRAUM TREEHOUSES

When designing a treehouse, it’s almost always a good idea to add a little childhood nostalgia and rustic charm to the mix, even if the end result has modern leanings. We’ve talked about treehouses big, small, and uber-futuristic, and each has had its own special flavor; but no matter how you distinguish yours from the rest, once you put a house in a tree, you join the ranks of the make-believe revivalists.

German cooperative baumraum knows how to keep imagination alive in their homes. Combining architecture, landscape design and “arboriculture,” they create treetop dwellings which integrate beautifully into their forested surroundings, and preserve the integrity of the trees that support them. With the breezy playfulness of a hammock and the trusted stability of an old oak tree, baumraum won’t make you grow up to enjoy a sophisticated house.

TREE HABITATS

No longer just for Ewoks, treehouses have come a long way from the ramshackle plywood thingy your dad pieced together for you in the backyard. A number of architects are taking their inspiration from nature to create beautiful, comfortable, and contemporary dwellings in the trees.

A LIVING HOUSE – Terreform’s Fab Tree Hab

Inspired by the ecocentric attitudes of such beloved American nature-lovers as Thoreau, Emerson, Whitman and Alcott, three MIT designers – Mitchell Joachim, Lara Greden and Javier Arbona – created this living treehouse in which the dwelling itself merges with its environment and nourishes its inhabitants. Fab Tree Hab dissolves our conventional concept of home and establishes a new symbiosis between the house and its surrounding ecosystem.

FREE-SPIRIT ECO TREEHOUSE

I just spotted this crazy hanging treehouse, which looks like a cross between those uber 60’s hanging bubble chairs and an Ewok dwelling! Designed by Tom Chudleigh the Free Spirit Sphere is an eco-friendly living quarter that was created to co-exist unobtrusively with its forest environment.