‘We think the fire eats the wood. We are wrong. The wood reaches out to the flame. The fire licks at what the wood harbors, and the wood gives itself away to that intimacy, the manner in which we and the world meet each new day.’
― Jack Gilbert, Collected Poems
Canberra - Australia
Australian National Botanical Gardens
Design: Juan-Pablo + Nici Long
Collaborating Artist: Carolina Pinto
Team: Paul Nugent, Seb Guy, Jed Long, Mercurio Alvarado, and Juan Fabrellas
Engineering: Ron Rogers
The Paperbark Treehouse was created, in a sense; to mimic the experience one would feel visiting a copse of Melaleuca trees.
Fire is fundamental to the Australian bush, both as a source of destruction and renewal. For the same reason, the element of fire became essential to our team as inspiration for the overall design of this work. The entire exterior of the Treehouse has been charred by flames to provide a natural weather shield and to also give protection against fire by resisting ignition. The deep black appearance of the carbonized structure creates a backdrop in order to better highlight the surrounding Tea Tree grove.
Three levels in the Treehouse relate to the trees themselves as roots (under-story), trunk (main platform), and canopy (crow’s nest). The crow’s nest can almost be likened to a ship, as it floats a crest the treetops.
Chilean sculptor Carolina Pinto created the organic steelwork that emerges from the base of the trunks of the structure and appears to grow up and around the supporting tree-columns. The steelwork also serves as a form of lattice for native vines to grow, hence providing a living connection between the Treehouse and the forest floor.