The Biophilia Treehouse
Los Angeles and Encino, California
Fall 2019-Present
The Biophilia Treehouse is an offering to birds and a transdisciplinary project rooted in community-driven practices. I have been involved in the project since fall 2019 as a Senior Researcher at the UCLA DMA Counterforce Lab.
As the team lead of communications, I acquired a lot of airborne and ground-level footage over the past two years. I also co-designed, printed, and hung a large exhibition in the newly minted Untitled space at the UCLA Broad Art Center on view from April to May 2023.
Ultimately, the Biophilia Treehouse project is public arts initiative to create and grow a series of living sculptures using native trees and plants that constitute a complete ecosystem for some of LA’s most threatened birds.
After I joined the UCLA DMA Counterforce Lab in October 2019, this was the first project I engaged in. Almost four years later, in April 2023, with our truly transdisciplinary efforts and the onboarding of many talented undergraduate students, we inaugurated the first iteration at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, California, home of the Sisters of Social Service. We are grateful for the Sisters’ support and their input through ethnographic, and value-mapping workshops which led us to design of insignia that reflect the unique relationship the Sisters have with the land. In the spirit of Pope Francis’ 2015 Laudato Si, the Biophilia Treehouse became a beacon, a temple, to repair our relationship with the natural world through the contemplation of avian beauty and physicality.
Los Angeles and Encino, California
Fall 2019-Present
The Biophilia Treehouse is an offering to birds and a transdisciplinary project rooted in community-driven practices. I have been involved in the project since fall 2019 as a Senior Researcher at the UCLA DMA Counterforce Lab.
As the team lead of communications, I acquired a lot of airborne and ground-level footage over the past two years. I also co-designed, printed, and hung a large exhibition in the newly minted Untitled space at the UCLA Broad Art Center on view from April to May 2023.
Ultimately, the Biophilia Treehouse project is public arts initiative to create and grow a series of living sculptures using native trees and plants that constitute a complete ecosystem for some of LA’s most threatened birds.
After I joined the UCLA DMA Counterforce Lab in October 2019, this was the first project I engaged in. Almost four years later, in April 2023, with our truly transdisciplinary efforts and the onboarding of many talented undergraduate students, we inaugurated the first iteration at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, California, home of the Sisters of Social Service. We are grateful for the Sisters’ support and their input through ethnographic, and value-mapping workshops which led us to design of insignia that reflect the unique relationship the Sisters have with the land. In the spirit of Pope Francis’ 2015 Laudato Si, the Biophilia Treehouse became a beacon, a temple, to repair our relationship with the natural world through the contemplation of avian beauty and physicality.
Stills from the Biophilia Treehouse 4k video documentation at UCLA and on site
Exhibition at the UCLA Broad Art Center, April-May 2023
