Bert in the City

While it is no surprise that the arts of Salvador Dali, Michelangelo, and the like are commonly used as design inspirations in architecture, the conceptual design for this unique residential project is modelled after a child’s drawing of a treehouse.

While architecture has produced buildings that are profitable and easy to assemble, it resulted in the mass production of “cookie-cutter” and “effortless” buildings that made cities across the world look almost the same. These truncated timber tree houses by Studio Precht, however, were shaped by the forest itself – along with a curious and playful flair reminiscing child-like memories.

Designed by Austrian architectural office Studio Precht in collaboration with Baumbau, a startup that specializes in tree houses and tiny homes, Bert in the City is a modular tree house concept that explores nature and architecture through the curious and playful eyes of children.

Odd yet whimsical, among the most distinctive forms of the project are its large, round windows inspired by cartoon characters from Minions and Sesame Street.

The houses are designed on a circular base, with tube-shaped modular cells with stackable living space, kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms that resemble the limbs of a tree sprawling out from the trunk. To blend with the landscape, units are made of wood, with accents of leaf-like shingles to complete the forest setting. For an entirely off-grid retreat, composting toilets can be added on the ground level and solar panels can be installed on the roof.

Inside, spaces are designed to be warm, dark, and cozy, with windows and balconies that aside from mimicking the project’s design inspirations, also excellently frame the breathtaking views of the landscape.

As mentioned by co-founder Fei Tang Precht, it doesn’t matter how young or old we are – architects will always have an inner child that looks at the world beneath rose-colored glasses of playfulness and curiosity. Such child-like emotions led to the phenomenal birth of Bert in the City, an unorthodox tree house enclosed in a memorable and whimsical form.