19th century botanical sketch by Arthur Wiechula of inosculated branches
Arthur Wiechula (January 20, 1867 – 1941) was a Germanlandscape engineer. His marriage to Lydia Lindnau, produced three children, Margarethe (1895), Max (1897) and Ernst (1900).[1]
He received the German Royal State Inventor's Honor Cross.[citation needed] In 1926, he published Wachsende Häuser aus lebenden Bäumen entstehend[2] (Developing Houses from Living Trees) in German,[3][4] describing simple building techniques involves guiding and grafting live branches together; including a system of v-shaped lateral cuts used to bend and curve individual trunks and branches in the direction of a design, with reaction wood soon closing the wounds to hold the curve.[3]
He envisioned growing trees so that it constituted walls during growth, thereby enabling the use of young trees for building.[3] He never built a living home, but he grew a 394-foot (120 m) wall of Canadian poplars to help keep the snow off a section of train tracks.[4] His illustrated ideas have inspired many other artists to attempt to grow a house of trees.
See also
Tree shaping – Use of living trees to create structures and art
Topiary – Horticulture practice to shape trees and shrubs
Espalier – Pruning/tying branches to flat structure
Pleaching – Interwoven branches to form a hedge, fence or lattice
Bonsai – Japanese art of training plants to mimic miniature versions of large trees
Full Grown – Company that grows trees into furniture and sculpture
References
^Kirsch, Konstantin (1996), Naturbauten aus lebenden Geholzen (Nature House Building) (3 ed.), OLV, Organischer Landbau-Verl. Lau, p. 82, ISBN 978-3-922201-17-5
^Wiechula, Arthur (1926), Wachsende Häuser aus lebenden Bäumen entstehend (Developing Houses from Living Trees), Verl. Naturbau-Ges, p. 320
^ a b c"designboom: history of arborsculpture".
^ a bLink, Tracey (June 13, 2008), Arborsculpture: An Emerging Art Form and Solutions to our Environment (PDF), Senior project for Bachelor of Science degree in Landscape Architecture, p. 15, archived from the original (PDF) on February 25, 2012, retrieved May 16, 2010{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)