Arborsculpture is a centuries-old art form in which trees are gradually bent and grafted into beautiful and functional shapes like weaves, bridges, chairs, hammocks, and even entire houses. Arborsculpture is intended to show the degree of harmony we can achieve with nature by carefully shaping it as it grows rather than chopping it down and obliterating all traces of its original form. Arborsculpture is depicted in artwork dating back to 1516.
A grafting knife, pruning sheers, stretch tape, a shovel, and a young and flexible tree to work with are all that is required to become an arborsculptor. Poplar, apple, birch, willow, cherry, ash, and red alder trees are all good candidates for arborsculpture. Simple arches, weaves, tool holders, and fences are all good projects for beginner arborsculptors. Anything is possible for the advanced! Anything from gazebos to boats to ladders to classrooms to large archways to gates. Even trees can be persuaded to hold stained glass.
The most well-known practitioner of arborsculpture is Axel Erlandson. He was born in central California to Swedish immigrants and later moved to the area between San Jose and Santa Cruz. He spent many years there, creating fantastic abstract and functional shapes from growing trees, and in the spring of 1947, he opened a “tree circus” that drew visitors from all over the world. Erlandson died in 1964 after a 40-year career as an arborsculptor. His tree circus is still in operation today.
In early twentieth-century German art, entire barns are depicted made of carefully tended trees. Mitchell Joachim, a member of the MIT Media Lab’s Smart Cities Group, has revived the “living house” arborsculpture idea, creating CG mock-ups and working out the details of how a house made entirely of trees could withstand the elements and remain intact for hundreds of years with little maintenance. Not only would such a home have no negative environmental impact, but it would also have a net positive impact by removing excess carbon dioxide from the air and producing fresh oxygen. If it takes off, arborsculpture could be a key component of a more sustainable future.