Nikolai Nikobar | Tree Houses

tree houses.

Tree House, Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil. (2012)

This off grid tree house was completed with the help of participating volunteers and friends. The round wood was sourced from the surrounding land and local area and some of the construction wood was salvaged and reclaimed from a local building site. Old car windows, motor cycle wheels and other upcycled installations were acquired from a local scrapyard. The corrugated roofing sheets were produced from recycled toothpaste tubes and Tetra Paks. The tree house features a main living space, a kitchen, shower and urinal, two balconies and a bedroom. Windows, doors and a table move with ropes, pulleys and counterweights. The tree house has two serviceable platforms for solar panels powering a solar pump and a spring fed water tank. The structure of the tree house is independent of the tree, resting on upcycled rubber tyre and inner tube pads and a supporting structure underneath. There are no nails or bolts in the living tree.

Tree House - Public Observatory, Alter do Chão, Amazon. (2016)

The tree house observatory was built in solitude. The structure rests independently, with no nails or bolts into the living tree. It was built on the peak of a hill, 108 metres above the Tapajos and Amazon rivers. A hilltop considered to be an indigenous sacred site in the region. At the base of the tree is a fire place and circle for holding Ayahuasca ceremonies. It is a simple tree house and collective space for relaxation, observation, meditation and inspiration. In an Amazon region, threatened and destroyed by mining, dams, industrial agriculture and consumerism, this tree house and observatory was a gesture of support for the indigenous alternatives of the Amazon. It is a free, collective, unrentable space for guests and visitors to the top of the hill. No monkeys were harmed during the construction.