Denmark-based architect Konrad Wójcik is on a mission to remind humans just how much we have changed the natural world. With urban sprawl and a global population explosion, we have deforested much of the planet and left it a mess. He believes that the only way to cure this is for humans to get back to nature and let the planet heal itself.

His proposal is called Primeval Symbiosis. It consists of small homes which look and behave as much like trees as artificial structures can. Solar panels cover the tops and sides of the pyramid-shaped structures, drawing energy from the sun just as trees do.

The homes gather water from the environment and turn humans’ waste into fertilizer to nourish the forest around them. The architect’s vision includes placing groups of the homes in forests. Each would be far enough away from its neighbors to afford some privacy, but not so far apart that they can’t be considered a community.

Each of the tree-like homes is supported by a single point, the end of which is anchored in the ground for stability. The small space beneath the “canopy” of the home is meant to house cars and bikes.

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When one of the homes is no longer usable, it again behaves like a tree: its death allows other things to survive. The homes are 100% cradle-to-cradle recyclable, meaning that every part of the structure can be not only recycled, but made into other things. Just like in nature, the circle of life defines this fascinating tree home concept.

The designer has a rather intense, but interesting, thought process behind this project:

“Earth counts time in billions of years. It took almost 4 billion years to produce trees. They are Earth’s greatest achievement – a perfect living sculpture. Only 200,000 years ago you showed up, Homo sapiens… a ‘wise human.’ Despite your vulnerability, you conquered all of the lands. Without any hesitation you started exploiting a four-billion-year-old legacy formed by the planet Earth.”

“Using technology you spread out from noisy and polluted cities, you created yourself. You took pure lands which did not belong to you and destroyed them also. Deforestation, it is called. The process of devastating natural habitat, killing thousands of organisms only for your own haughtiness. This is not symbiosis, not even commensalism… Slaughter, is what it is. Mass deforestation and for what I am asking? Infinite number of concrete blocks set up in lines like memorials… memorials of human fatuity? No. Not anymore.”

“We still have a chance to stop it. That is where the ‘PRIMEVAL symbiosis’ steps in. Just imagine, wooden structures brooding over forest like trees. Like trees they feed from the sun and gather water in order to survive. Self-sufficient constructions that convert bio-waste into fertilizer, enrich the soil and get energy in return. The energy that is the infinite heat source, which can stabilize interior temperature. Having the structure like every other organism, which all organs are natural, even after it dies it could be used again. A simple circle of life.”

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