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Associated Press

By now, you may be familiar with biophilic design – the idea of integrating nature into design to enhance our connection to the environment. Sustainability, wellness and harmony are usually part of the deal.
Some architects and home designers are using one particular biophilic element to striking effect: trees.
We have already seen public spaces around the globe incorporate trees in remarkable and beautiful ways.
The Ford Foundation in New York boasts a 12-storey-high atrium filled with magnolias, eucalyptus, jacaranda, cryptomeria, ironbark and pear trees.
The Winter Garden atrium in lower Manhattan’s Brookfield Place is home to 16 12-metre-tall (40-foot) Washingtonia palm trees.
Singapore’s Jewel Changi Airport features 2,500 trees – natives to Madagascar, Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia – in a 2.4-hectare (six-acre) indoor forest with walking trails.

Apartment complexes also have seen some striking examples of trees and other greenery incorporated into their design – the buildings are sometimes called “greenscrapers”.
For instance, architect Stefano Boeri’s Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) in Milan is a 44-storey tower with roughly 800 trees and myriad shrubbery enveloping each unit.
In the Netherlands, he built the Trudo Vertical Forest, a low-income apartment tower with trees growing on all four facades.
“Architects and designers are increasingly shrouding and softening the hard-edged stone and concrete planes of urban buildings with lush vegetation,” says London-based architecture and design writer Dominic Lutyens.

Private houses are also getting arboreal love. In some, trees are brought right indoors. In others, trees on the property are included as important partners in the home plan.
Whether it is building the home around an existing tree, planting one – or more – trees within the interior space, or simply giving the illusion of a woodland indoors, the aesthetic is green and gorgeous.
New York-based firm ODA Architecture created a penthouse home for a client in New Delhi that has a closed courtyard at its centre with a reflecting pool and a Chinese banyan (Ficus microcarpa) tree.
Raindrops land on the glass ceiling and are reflected in the infinity-edged pool in which the tree lives, truly giving an indoor/outdoor vibe.
The right tree for the right climate is important. And it needs to be acclimated in the area prior to planting
Grant Kirkpatrick, founding partner, KAA Design Group
Ryoko Okada, one of ODA’s principals and its interior project director, says the firm brings the outdoors in as often as it can, both on large-scale projects and less ambitious ones.
“There’s nothing more calming than being surrounded by nature. A living tree is a statement piece, and an art installation in itself,” she says. “It’ll bring you joy and peace, and as with a smaller houseplant, seeing it grow and evolve is regenerative.”
The tree in the New Delhi home lives in multiple feet of soil and is supported to prevent damage to the house. The level below had high ceilings, which allowed the architects to drop the floor and establish space for the tree roots to grow.
KAA Design Group in Los Angeles county created a modern home in Southern California that embraces the property’s existing cork oaks, rare Torrey pines and magnolias. An impressive mature cork oak sits centre stage at “The Tree House”. Leaving it in place took a bit of a sell, says one of the firm’s founding partners, Grant Kirkpatrick.
“Once we developed the plan that literally embraces the tree, they understood.”


The driveway, too, offers a Zen moment, with a black pine pruned in the Japanese niwaki style with more open branching, and a miniature rock garden emerging out of the paving like an organic sculpture.
On an upper floor, you can look out onto a grassy platform built around the gnarled branches of one of the oaks. Views out the sliding glass doors of the open-plan kitchen and dining area are framed by tree limbs, and the ocean is on the horizon.
“We don’t recommend planting full-size trees in your home without consulting a landscape architect or other qualified specialist,” Okada says. “A living tree will only thrive in the right environment, determined by region, access to light and air, and soil type. And it needs to be supported by proper infrastructure to stay alive and avoid home damage.
“We also recommend doing thorough research on the tree’s natural environment so that you’re not attracting pests.”

“It can be tricky,” Kirkpatrick adds. “At least four feet [1.2 metres] of soil depth is recommended. Plentiful natural light as well. The right tree for the right climate is important. And it needs to be acclimated in the area prior to planting.”
The landscape teams of John Mini Distinctive Landscapes and Pahokee Palms, who installed the Brookfield Place palm trees, did just that.
After the young trees were dug up in Florida, they spent some time under the protective cover of a 15-metre-high shade house, so they could adjust to light conditions in New York.


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Architecture and design

A Chinese banyan (Ficus microcarpa) tree is situated in an infinity pool in this rendering of a home in New Delhi, India, designed by 
New York-based firm ODA Architecture. Photo: AP

A five-storey-high indoor forest at Singapore’s Jewel Changi Airport encircles an indoor waterfall. Photo: AP

Stefano Boeri’s Bosco Verticale in Milan houses roughly 800 trees. Photo: AFP

The Tree House in Southern California designed by KAA Design Group embraces the property’s existing cork oaks. Photo: AP

The Tree House’s second-floor cantilevered platform was built around the gnarled branches of one of the property’s existing oaks. Photo: AP

A private courtyard at The Tree House contains a soaking tub made of Japanese wood, a reflecting pool and small trees. Photo: AP

Lifestyle

Arts

Interiors & Living

From airports and apartment buildings to beautiful private houses, architects and interior designers are using trees to striking effect


From airports and apartment buildings to beautiful private houses, architects and interior designers are using trees to striking effect.


India

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