'Living in the lap of nature': Results of the Tree House 2021 Architecture Competition

The winning entries of the Tree House 2021 Architecture Competition have been revealed. Organized by Volume Zero, the design ideas challenge invited participants to imagine a "way of living in the lap of nature, suspended amongst a magnificent tree, and under the starry sky."

The jury was composed of Marco Lavit (Atelier), Widhi Nugroho (Studio WNA), Deepak Guggari (VDGA STUDIO), Peter Eising (Pacific Environments Architects), Tiago Rebelo De Andrade (Rebelo Andrade), Luis Rebelo De Andrade (Rebelo Andrade), and Juan Pablo De La Rosa (Talleresque).

First Place: Kajal Kouchakpour & Roza Bemani (Iran)

Project excerpt: "The spatial structure of the wood allows you to experience a variety of views through breaks at different levels and Life on a tree is created by walking through the empty spaces between the branches and taking full advantage of the landscape and the movement between these empty spaces. This idea transforms life in the forest into a dynamic spatial experience by emphasizing the unique potential of trees and thereby challenging the notion of living."

Second Place: The Nest by Priyanka Sharma, Edwin James & Gayathri Aasish Janardhanan (India)

Project excerpt: "The client is a couple that represents our current working-class society who, especially wants to break away from the repetitive dullness of urban life but is unnerved about the lack of steady income. 'Birds are inspirational, they perch away from dangers of the ground, still not far nor close, nested in a space, natural, found to be suitable to build their home.'  It is a refuge for the couple who needs to live close to nature but not barefoot."

Third Place: Gharonda by Pushkar Sharma & Avinash Chakravorty (India)

Project excerpt: "In times of pandemics, there has been a drastic change in the work culture. Concepts like 'Work from home'; 'Work-ation etc. have become commonplace and professionals are finding new ways to increase their productivity without compromising the work-life balance. `Gharonda’ is one such attempt to provide working professionals a space where they can live minimally amidst the peace and calm of nature. 'Windows sprout from the central part like the sub-branches of a tree sprouting from the main branch.' The form of the tree house is inspired by the structure of a tree itself."

Take a look also at the ten honorable mentions in the image gallery and comment below which of these tree houses you would like to move into.