• architecture
• Chile
• ecotourism
• forest
• parametric design
• sustainable design
• treehouses
• wood

The exploitation of natural resources inclined to primary wood products for international market is highly present in Chile and in Villarrica area. This involves also the banishment of indigenous peoples,that are deprived of their own territories, and the occurrence of social conflicts. Furthermore, the secondary wood products for the construction industry have to be imported: in this way, costs, times and transportation pollution increase.
To answer this critical issues, the project proposes the creation of a natural park with the management of native peoples. This park will increase the ecotourism of the region, and allow a new manner for visitors to enjoy the natural landscape.
In its 4000 hectares of extension, the park includes cabins, paths, shelters, and a area of production of timber, that can be visited by the tourists. They are involved in the production process, that can be viewed from the plants to the buildings, to the reforestation management. The indigenous people can pass down the respect of the nature,and can educate the visitors to a correct management of the common natural resource.
The architectural design focuses on the cabins’ study, that are built with the timber produced in the park, and that are completely integrated with the natural context. In particular, to create a strong relationship with the nature and a new touristic experience, the cabins will be on the trees. The design is inspired by natural world, especially to honeycombs, whose modules allow the cabins adaptation at the geographic and energetic context, and a more easy production and assembly. The lanning is totally parametric: that permits the optimization of each house and of the entire complex, from the point of view of volumes, supporting trees configuration, and solar irradiation. A general model can be set and optimized for different configurations.
Finally, a concept inspired by Artificial Life is introduced. The forest represents the main entity to deal with in our design process, and an important source of inspiration: a living macro-organism hosting many individual ecosystems (most notably, trees). Accordingly, we view our treehouses complex as an organism of self-sufficient but networked cells: the housing units. The whole complex lives in a symbiotic interaction with the forest. All this will bring integration and sustainability to unprecedented levels.