In 2003 Lukasz Kos, a masters student at the University of Toronto's School of Architecture & Design, took honorable mention at the OAA awards for his Muskoka, ON. treehouse, an elegant slatted structure that scales the trees and lets light radiate down it's core.

What is it about tree houses that we love so much? Their playfulness, the escapism they offer, and the platforms they provide into nature all come to mind. We have written about the 4Treehouse by Lukasz Kos before, but when we saw it again in this month’s Dwell, the gorgeous glowing image stopped us in our tracks. Posing as a Japanese lantern on stilts, Kos’ creation floats within the fir trees on Lake Muskoka, Ontario.What’s more, the design frames spectacular views of the forest, from inside, out, down and up!

No longer just for Ewoks, treehouses have come a long way from the ramshackle plywood thingy your dad pieced together for you in the backyard. A number of architects are taking their inspiration from nature to create beautiful, comfortable, and contemporary dwellings in the trees. Landliving has a great overview of some modern treehouses, from architecture student Lukasz Kos’s Ontario treehouse, to Joel Sherman’s award-winning elevated Steel Tree House in Lake Tahoe, CA, to Marcio Kogan’s tree-top canopy BR House in Brazil.

 Steel Tree House by Joel Sherman

BAUMRAUM TREEHOUSES

German cooperative baumraum knows how to keep imagination alive in their homes. Combining architecture, landscape design and “arboriculture,” they create treetop dwellings which integrate beautifully into their forested surroundings, and preserve the integrity of the trees that support them. With the breezy playfulness of a hammock and the trusted stability of an old oak tree, baumraum won’t make you grow up to enjoy a sophisticated house.

It seems that idea is less about reducing the ecological footprint, and more about the treehouse as a relic of childhood that is virtually extinct in urban settings. By resurrecting them on a very grand scale in a more sylvan setting, these treehouses are the ultimate in treehouse design, and no doubt the owners are the most popular kids in the forest.

 
Various architects take treehouses beyond the concept of a playhouse in the backyard.

The "treehouse" by Marcio Kogan in Brazil was built up to the canopy, and allows trees to puncture through the roof at points, creating a contemporary elevated living space.