"World’s First Tower Made of Hundreds of Living Trees"

VERY COOL!

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.

link

One Mega Tree Tower! So very very cool! I want one! I'm going into my backyard RIGHT now and building my own! Sweetness!

[edit on 26-8-2009 by Animal]

It is cool but it is not made entirely of living trees. It also contains metal cylinders and what looks like 2x4's. Not quite what I was anticipating.

reply to post by sligtlyskeptical


well aren't you just a bunch of joy

yes it has metal and processed wood as part of the floors and ladders.

still is is going to GROW into a solid tower, or at least the exterior will.

i mean, come on! give a little bit of credit where credit is due....

That is actually kewler than the World's Tallest Building Made Out of Wood that is being built in Norway.

I'm still dreaming of making an Elven like House amongst a canopy of living trees such as Lothlorien.

Alas, I don't have a couple hundred years to wait for a tower made of hundreds of living trees to grow to maturity before I can build one in it.

[edit on 26-8-2009 by fraterormus]

reply to post by fraterormus


i saw that tower, inhabitat is one of my favorite sites. it was a 'cool' story but had nothing on the growing tree house!

all the same thanks for sharing!

It is the perfect tower for knocking off deer. It is an awesome structure. I wonder how much of the tree movement is transferred throughout the structure?

I had a similar idea years ago after reading the Lord of the Rings. My idea was to plant oaks about 6' apart and then graft the lateral branches together. As the trees grew you could continure the process even making flooring supports. Guess I shoulda started that idea when I was about 40 years younger. lol . Still a cool idea.

reply to post by Animal



Ah, but this is manmade.

You want to be awed by the most massive living creatures on Earth? Visit Sequoia National Park. The size of those trees will humble you.

www.terragalleria.com...

The entire park is just amazing, but the Sequoia trees are the largest living beings on planet Earth.

The tree General Sherman is actually the largest living being on the world.


The above image can be found at.

www.trekearth.com...

That image does not do justice to the real size of General Sherman, or any other Sequoia tree.

Now look at this one.



The above image is from.
www.trekearth.com...

And that is not General Sherman which is a lot bigger and wider than the above Sequoia tree.

There is something mystical and even magical about that place.

I have visited most National parks, and most of the U.S. most interesting places, and never felt the same as being right next to Sequoia trees.





[edit on 26-8-2009 by ElectricUniverse]

Hey, at least now we've found a tower that could theoretically collapse due to fire. Truth +1, Official story -1.

Edit: better people?

[edit on 27-8-2009 by king9072]

reply to post by king9072



Please no codes. If you want to say something just say it.

Everything is not codes, and "hidden secrets".

Originally posted by king9072
Hey, at least now we've found a tower that could theoretically collapse due to fire. Truth 34328144, Official story -4182371832.80

???

Originally posted by king9072
Hey, at least now we've found a tower that could theoretically collapse due to fire. Truth +1, Official story -1.

Edit: better people?

Oh boy... Man, why is it that some people keep claiming the towers "could not collapse just because of fire"?... the two towers were hit by friggen passenger planes, and one of the towers collapsed partially on Tower seven, opening a hole on it's side. i think it was tower two if i remember correctly.

Not to mention the several shockwaves from the plane crash, the explosions, and the collapses of the towers which do affect the structural integrity of surrounding buildings, which included tower 7. BTW, not all towers are made of the same materials.

I looked at the evidence from all sides, did my own research, and found a lot of info such as the fact that the terrorist attack was planned in Spain, and the terrorists behind the plot, including Bin Laden, have been convicted in a Spanish court of law.

The 9/11 conspiracy theory is one of the conspiracies that I haven't seen any evidence of, and please let's not make this now a 9/11 conspiracy theory.



[edit on 27-8-2009 by ElectricUniverse]

just to clarify this thread is about making a tower out of growing trees. it has nothing to do with 911. it makes me sad that people can not see the beauty in this story and have to link it to such a tragic event.

Originally posted by Animal
just to clarify this thread is about making a tower out of growing trees. it has nothing to do with 911. it makes me sad that people can not see the beauty in this story and have to link it to such a tragic event.

Speaking of beauty in this story (and an attempt to get this thread back on topic), I showed this article to my 12 year old daughter. She was beyond impressed, and was actually inspired. Immediately after reading it we were walking through the park and she found two trees that had smaller trees winding around them to form an ornate pillar. I didn't get a picture of it, but it's similar to this, just much larger:



She is now dreaming of doing what this German Research Team is doing but on a grander scale and using living trees to create a palace with pillars and towers and vaulted canopies. Considering the cost of a single White Willow Sapling is about $15 and a single tower such as the German Research Team has constructed is comprised of hundreds of White Willow Saplings, it's going to take saving her allowance for quite a few years to afford building her living tree dream palace.

Even if she never does such on that scale, using living trees for sculpture would be a nice Art-form.

Still, this article has me thinking about the possibilities of baubotanical houses as well.

reply to post by fraterormus


Why not just go out and dig up some saplings that were overcrowded anyway and do it with them? You would'nt damage the environment and you'd save a pile of money. just a thought.

Silly question here maybe - but wont the 3 floors end up at some quite odd angles as the years go on? I very much doubt that all sides will grow evenly - the south side is bound to get much more light for instance.

It's a nice idea though - I remember reading about a similar idea in one of the books I had as a kid, one about what the future would bring, only they had one giant tree (just say an Oak) and it was continuously 'forced' into shape with temporary beams and clamps.

It would be nice to live that close to nature - but to be practical I would say you would need a man made structure that is designed to 'invite' the trees in, you couldn't use bricks for instance, the roots will force them apart over time.

Originally posted by Now_Then
Silly question here maybe - but wont the 3 floors end up at some quite odd angles as the years go on? I very much doubt that all sides will grow evenly - the south side is bound to get much more light for instance.

It is a misconception on how trees grow that would lead you to this, a very common misconception.

You see trees do not grow upward in that the lower portions rise into the air as the tree grows.

What actually happens is layers are accumulated causing expansion not upward growth.

while this still would allow for distortions it would not cause the type you seem to be alluding to.

reply to post by Animal


Yep that makes sense now Thinking about some of the trees I have known since childhood the lower limbs where I used to climb are at the same height as they always were.

reply to post by Animal



Yeah I know, I wasn't trying to turn this into a 9/11 debate, i apologize if my response to king9072 derailed for a moment the thread.

not good with the fire element...