Designed by Christchurch artist Julia Morison, Tree Houses for Swamp Dwellers, will be installed at SCAPE 7 Art Central in the vicinity of the proposed performing arts precinct in September 2013.  

Consisting of ten modular objects which read and function both as trees and as houses, Morison’s work incorporates light and plant forms, and creates spaces within for reflection and play.

Jointly funded by Todd Foundation’s Special Focus Fund for art projects and the Christchurch City Council, this project will remain as a permanent, re-locatable work in Christchurch City.

Tree Houses for Swamp Dwellers will be revealed on 26 September 2013 and is the first post-earthquake sculpture commissioned for Christchurch. It has been constructed by installing three-metre tall hexagonal timber frames, each on top of a precast concrete base. Above the timber frame, a steel planter holds live muehlenbeckia complexa plants and supports illuminated fiberglass rods which reach another three metres above the planter frame.

The combined ten tree houses will span nearly 20 square metres of area.

The construction of Tree Houses for Swamp Dwellers is sponsored by Hawkins Construction.