Tuesday, August 30, 2011

A New Spin On The Common Tree-House

If you ever had, had access to, or dreamed of having access to a tree-house when you were a kid, then forester/architect Roald Gundersen should be your hero. Gundersen is pioneering a new style of green architecture that the New York Times has said could "revolutionize the building industry". The concept? Using whole trees as structural elements in residential and agricultural buildings.

According to an article on HardwoodFloorsMag.com, Gundersen and his organization Whole Trees Architecture & Structures use roundwood pieces to build homes and buildings without milling. According to Gundersen, the resulting wood structures are much stronger than sawn wood.

Take a look at an example of their work:

whole tree houses

"Trees have an engineering structure developed over a very long time," Gundersen told Hardwood Floors Magazine. "We have a lot we can learn from them."

What do you think of this building style? Is it something to keep an eye on, or is it just a fad? Leave a comment below and let us know.

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