High House is a tree-top terrace at the heart of a busy boulevard, inviting free public use.
High House is a minimalistic tree top terrace at the heart of a busy boulevard. It enhances the pedestrian experience by creating an autonomous, heterotopic place removed from the street, yet connected to it.
The work allows passersby to climb up a ladder to the tree's lush foliage, and observe the street from another, calmer, greener perspective.
Rather than directing its users to some specific content, High House invites the public to use it as they wish, to claim their own autonomy of public space usage. This strategy generates a free flow of activities day and night: idle contemplation, yoga, lunch, political protests, artistic performances and more.
High House, through its playful take on childhood fantasies and eco-utopianism, works both on the ecological level and the social one – it reminds us of the importance of trees, it makes use of otherwise ‘wasted’ vertical volume of the street without creating a crowding effect, and opens up a public non-commercial space open to free and spontaneous initiatives.
The concept for this work has been already tested as a pilot for a limited time in Tel Aviv, on Rothschild boulevard, and could be easily recreated to fit any tree standing some minimal physical requirements (strength and size (The work on Rothschild boulevard was supervised by an Agronomist and a construction engineer).
The design of the project is quite simple in terms of materials (steel pipes, safety webbing and timber), and should be executed by a professional contractor. Prior to installation a photogrametric scan of the tree is preformed, in order to prepare a precise building plan and design.
I would be very happy to design and install the project in Vienna.
* The title of the work is taken from Agnes Martin's quote "The adventurous state of mind is a high house... The joy of adventure is unaccountable.”
