Tree Houses: Escape to the Canopy

by Peter Eising (Introduction)

Tree houses have come a long way since our collective childhoods. The very definition of a tree house has broadened to now include anything from a boutique hotel room where star gazing is a must to exceptional viewing platforms and, of course, not forgetting a treehouse for kids such as exists only in their dreams. This carefully compiled list provides an overview of striking tree houses across the globe, with designs that are truly unique, inspiring, and beautiful. Leafing through this inspiring collection, the reader will wonder in amazement at the exquisite and whimsical yet sophisticated constructions dreamed up by modern architects and designers. This beautiful edition is lavishly illustrated with evocative full-colour images of ingenuis arboreal architecture, with a focus on the forested surroundings, verdant treetop canopies, and rural experiences. This book will not only appeal to your inner child, but provide a welcome respite from the stresses of modern living by offering a pleasurable visit to the green world of tree houses.

Genres: Nonfiction, Photography

256 pages, Hardcover

Published May 30, 2021

Reviews

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's enjoyable looking at all of these beautiful constructions and imagining the chance to visit them. Sadly, this book left me wanting in several ways. One is that the selected photos just don't do a good enough job of showing off the buildings to their full potential; I really want a full tour of the spaces and this book doesn't provide that. Many of the chapters do include schematics of the structures, but these are usually fairly abstract and low detail and fail to help in this regards.

A more quibbling issue: each chapter or section explores a different building (several are more like platforms, many more don't even try to incorporate trees in anyway, being more like cabins on stilts, but that isn't really an issue) and has a sort of thematic title. Rather than including the name of the construction and its location under this title, this information is included like a caption to a photograph on the facing page; this isn't really a problem since all of the information is there, it just seems like a strange choice, one which breaks the natural flow of how you might want to read through it.

I also have an issue with one specific chapter, "Thermal motivation" about the Tree Snake House in Portugal: the text describes a sinuous construction with a round front window; the pictures show an angular form (albeit one with unusual slopes) with only square windows. There are no pictures in the book that resemble this written description, so it feels like either they used the wrong pictures, or somehow wrote the wrong description (maybe it is confused with another building at the same location?)

[Thomasin Propson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who doesn’t like tree houses?!