TREEhouses for a tropical island - hawaii

- MARCO MATEUS - 

The essence of the idea for this proposition was established based on an analogy between the development of the volume and the growth of a tree.

Since the beginning, a strong connection was established between the not yet existing volume and many of nature’s organic aspects, and of the tree in particular. One of the most important was the ability that nature has to build in harmony with the existing elements, generating fluidness between what is new and what was already there.

Basic concepts lead to the birth of a metaphor: the house of leaves; They also lead to a will to use materials with different characteristics, in order to enrich both the concept and the object itself.

In order to materialise these established conceptual roots, we explored the contrast between wood and steel. The connection that rises enables both materials to further express their uniqueness.

Once the basic principles were defined, it was possible for the volume to grow and that it’s own shape. The growth occurred in such a way, that it made possible the creation of an organic, continuous and very fluid relation between the inner and outer space, establishing the desired link with any of the natural environments proposed on the competition brief: Fiji, Vietnam, Maui or China.