The Biosphere Tree
A cool treehouse complete with compost toilet!
TreeHouse Hawaii: “Hawaii’s answer to Biospheres One and Two is a great Indian banyan (Ficus) flourishing in lush Manoa Valley on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu. It comprises the Southeast corner of the ‘Gayasphere,’ a living dome of giant bamboo and lineage-holder Bodhi trees woven together with sacred and medicinal vines. The seven-level ‘treehouse’ is a collage of floors suspended below transparent roofs, with a central pyramid of giant bamboo piercing the canopy of the tree, allowing a sweeping bird’s-eye view of the valley and the sea beyond Waikiki.
The highest level is a holy place 120 feet above the stream which flows through the many trunks of the tree. The bathroom on the lowest level boasts a composting toilet. 12-volt electricity lights the tree and solar panels are planned. Access is a by a hanging bridge which connects the sloping hillside to the heart of the tree. A steel ‘star-dome’ 7 feet in diameter swings like a pendulum over a pool in the stream.
The Envirolet® Composting Toilet (teal colour) in the background.
Begun 30 years ago as a project by then-owner Bob Durant for the neighbor kids, the “treehouse” has grown with the tree — banyans grow up and out in all directions, sending down wispy aerial roots which connect to the earth to form strong ancillary trunks, or entwine with branches below to support the higher branches, an infinite interconnectedness of spheres-within-spheres.”
Via The Biosphere Tree.
Scott Smith was thinking green at 12:58 PM on March 14, 2005
Comments are sorta kinda broken right now. We're working on it but to save energy can only work in daytime when solar system is at peak performance.
