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.
And if you enjoy this 5-minute video and want to see more, check out the full-length video of Terreform’s many cool projects, over at ScribeMedia
As part of the ecological architecture nonprofit Terreform, Mitchell Joachim, Lara Greden, and Javier Arbona designed 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.
In order to build the arboreal frame, the designers utilize “pleaching” - a gardening technique in which tree branches are woven together to form living archways. Trees such as Elm, Live Oak, and Dogwood bear the heavier loads, while vines, branches, and plants form a lattice for the walls and roof of the house. The interior structure is made of cob (clay and straw), a tried-and-true green building approach that lends itself to customized shaping of walls and ceilings.
The trees that form the frame and the plants that grow on the external walls are meant to provide sustenance for the inhabitants and other living creatures who interact with the structure. On this level, the designers aim to demonstrate that natural building materials, when utilized in their living state, can create a “superstructure” that is biologically pure and contains no unknown substances. They point out that new building materials, even those that champion sustainability, are nevertheless industrially manufactured and contain components that are not fully understood in terms of their long-term impact.
+ Terreform Video (45 Minutes)
+ Terreform
+ Terreform’s Living Treehouse: Fab Tree Hab
+ Top Ten Treehouses
November 20th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
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November 20th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
holy moly! 15 - 20 year to grow a how! no thank
November 21st, 2007 at 10:41 pm
What a cool idea. You could build an estate with these and claim the carbon credits at the same time!
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:24 pm
[…] Grow a Treehouse with Terreform As part of the ecological architecture nonprofit Terreform, Mitchell Joachim, Lara Greden, and Javier Arbona designed this living treehouse in which the dwelling itself merges with its environment and nourishes its inhabitants. (tags: architecture building design environment green technology video) […]
November 26th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
In the virgin islands (St. Thomas) I lived for a while in a tree house that used the mangrove tree as its frame. this house was huge. Big as any condo you see now. Wasn’t prone to any real disease as mangrove tree are tough and grow like weeds. It was very cool.
Marc
November 27th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
We grow to love our Treehouse as it cultivated into our abode… Colourful
December 9th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
I can’t believe how they work out those trees. It is marvelous.
December 14th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
hi may friend
i need to help
im student in architecture in iran
my project in this term is:designing sustainable architecture & architecture andenviroment: & green architecture
but in iran we dont have enufh refrenses
i want some picture &some dvd $ some informatoin about it
can u help me?
tjanks very much
and im sorry aboute this leeter because my english is not good
December 16th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
grouse house concept… hope the trees are okay with getting kinky
Would work really well with a septic tank too because than all your poos and wees would fertilise your house.
the trouble is these kinds of structures have a knack for growing and changing and losing limbs and so forth… so don’t expect it to be static. If you don’t mind the occasional shower of clay and straw than ees no problemo… but otherwise could be worth heading more in the traditional japanese direction with walls… expect them to be temporary, make them low resource.
The concept has merrit but unfortunately again just looks like architects playing with bourgeiose ideas to gain credibility. Is their money really going to be made on designing stuff like this, or does it just get them industry cred so they can build more unsustainable condoms?
I respect environmentaly friendly design, but we do need to indulge in a little critical realism occasionally. Maybe one day this site will be as much dedicated to green builders and construction workers as it is to designers… because until this stuff becomes mainstream, it remains pipedream.
Frustrated but impressed!
Tim
January 5th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Why do they attempt these projects in Beverly Hills? Get some donated land in the middle of no where and DON”T ASK PERMISSION. Just do it and say “it was a surprise!”
January 7th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
YEAH man!! This is the future! (Or at least another step towards it). Nothing makes me happier than to see good folks caring about mother earth.
These Israelis really are wonderful, aren’t they ;]