TreeXOffice is designed to give back to the trees. Photo: Groundwork London
Coworking is all the rage these days, with spaces popping up faster than one can keep track of. And within the growing coworking movement, there is something for everyone. There are coworking spaces that double as climbing gyms, coworking spaces for artists, coworking spaces in houses, and now, coworking spaces in trees.
Dubbed TreeXOffice, the project brings together six to eight people at a time to work in the canopy of a tree. Theoriginal TreeXOffice was a temporary space in Socrates Sculpture Park in New York City. Now, a second space has popped up in London’s Hoxton Square. It will be there through mid-December. Beyond providing the pleasant experience of working in a wi-fi enabled tree, TreeXOffice is designed to give back to the tree and the surrounding green space.
“The profits from the tree are spent in the interest of the tree," artist, engineer, and New York University professor Natalie Jeremijenko, who designed TreeXOffice told Fast Company. "By making it specifically about the tree, and the kind of revenue that the tree can generate, we're really exploring a larger political discussion of what are the rights of nature.”
Trees have important jobs such as improving air quality and sequestering carbon, but there is not much value placed on them, or returned to them. With TreeXOffice, Jeremijenko can change that. The temporary TreeXOffice she created in New York brought in $1,000 a month with 25 people each paying $40 membership fees. All the profits were spent on improving the surroundings of the tree. Jeremijenko plans to do the same in London where TreeXOffice rates range from £15 for a workspace for a half day, to £120 to rent the entire space for a half day. Community groups can use the space on the weekends for free.
This article was printed with permission of Shareable -- an online magazine that tells the story of sharing that covers people, places, and projects bringing a shareable world to life.
The author, Cat Johnson, is a freelance writer focused on community, the commons, sharing, collaboration and music. Publications include Utne Reader, GOOD, Yes! Magazine, Shareable, Triple Pundit and Lifehacker.
It is very ugly the construction around the tree
All is fragile, temporary. Fostering greater connection between trees and people = Life. Thank you for this real dose of daily good.
Trees-most generous beings on this planet......looking around me I feel like a criminal.
If I was a tree I would want to be admired just the way I am, and not have people build some artificial structure around me and exploit me.
On Aug 31, 2015 1_Salty_2 wrote:
I'm not a "tree-hugger" or anything but this reminds me of Shel Silverstein's story about "The Giving Tree."
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