A playful new art installation in downtown Edmonton is giving traditional treehouses an urban twist.
Inspired by the city and the surrounding suburbs, design students from the University of Alberta are hoisting elaborate model homes into tree tops around Edmonton’s core.
The three houses are based off of actual local homes, and are programmed with lights and sounds to make it seem as though miniature families are living within the walls.
“They're tiny, tiny houses put into the most public space in the city,” Brad Comis, one of the artists behind the installation, told CTV’s Janet Dirks. “We've got little sounds and stuff in there that are supposed to simulate people living in there.”
Each house represents a different type of home commonly found in Edmonton’s residential areas. There is a traditional brick house with a peaked roof, a suburban infill with laminate siding, and a boxy midcentury modern unit.
Artist Danielle Soneff said none of the three artists behind the project actually grew up with a treehouse of their own, but they were all familiar with the childhood motif.
“I think we were drawing on kind of the idealized suburban dream,” Soneff said.
The artists -- who were led by U of A instructor Jesse Sherburne -- hope that placing models of suburban dwellings in such urban locations will make passersby think about their city a little differently.
“We want to spark a bit of a dialogue about urbanism in Edmonton and contrast between private space and public space, and suburb versus the urban space,” Comis said.
The project is funded by the Edmonton Arts Council. On the its blog, the council describes the treehouses as “arborial abodes” that “reflect heritage architecture found in historic neighbourhoods like Old Glenora, as well as newly built infills.”
The houses are supposed to be on display until mid-September. But anybody hoping to climb up and claim one as their summer clubhouse will be out of luck.
The treehouses are not open to the public. There are no ladders to climb up the trees, and the doors are bolted shut, leaving the home’s interiors and inhabitants up to the imagination.
