Creating
an edible paradise by building houses from living trees using techniques such
as arborsculpture and tree shaping. Houses that are located in the middle of a
food forest: a forest with edible plants and fruits of shrubs and trees. This
is the dream of Bob and Cathelijne. Together with their daughter, they live in
a reconstructed recreational house, in which living trees have been
incorporated. A very special way of living together with nature.
Their 'living' house is in a recreation
area. It seems to be the only way to live in nature that fits perfectly Bob and
Cathelijne's dream. For years, they have been looking for a field where they
could build an eco-village of 'living' houses and create edible nature. They do
not want to destroy an existing forest for housing, a vegetable garden and a
food forest. It was not easy to find the ideal spot for their living village.
But now they have the place.
Bob prefers to build with what he has at
hand and without a blueprint. However, second-hand materials rarely have the
prescribed size needed to comply with building codes and regulations. This is
even more true for living trees in a house. Nevertheless, for Bob and
Cathelijne this is the ultimate way of life. They are totally committed to it!
Bob and Cathelijne from The Living Village
are not daunted by this. In all kinds of ways they raise money so they can
build their future dream village. By organising a festival, by creating
attention and awareness around building with 'living' nature via social media,
by participating in television broadcasts and by giving workshops. They also
create edible gardens with special sculptures on behalf of others. They hope to
inspire others with their exceptional way of building and designing with
nature. Also they hope to gain the confidence of the government that this way
of building, designing and living with nature is possible.
