Man’s entire journey on this Earth has been a journey from fearing Nature to understanding it and to finally exploiting it in order to fuel his progress. Civilization and its red-haired stepchild, art, have always taken things from Nature and utilized them to their advantage. They have turned them into forms that have found a use for man and creatures man values, making things harder for all others.
Technology has, however, taken this to a whole new level of uncompassionate exploitation. From the Industrial Revolution onwards, man’s existence has taken leaps and bounds. Taking all that Nature has to offer, man has spewed out poison in solid, liquid, and gaseous forms back at her.
Natural surroundings are being encroached upon or cut down and destroyed to make up for man’s needs and wants. The voices of the forest, vale, and desert are in silence too, with species disappearing at a rate that is faster than ever before. The seas are bearing the brunt too with waste being dumped into them without treatment. In an exemplary act of political cruelty, Japan has cut herself off from the International Whaling Commission and has decided to hunt whales. Whales are one of the most critically endangered niche predatory species.
Governments of developed nations like the US and elsewhere are going all-out regressive too, denying climate change and pushing Nature into darker territory altogether.
I would not say that we lost hope; things are rather bleak.
But, just this once, let’s take a look at some instances of people actually respected Mother Nature in their run towards a bleak, civilized, un-Natural future:
Ring around a tree, Tokyo, Japan
Nearly fifty years ago, a Zelkova tree in Fuji Kindergarten was blown over by a typhoon. It survived (“fall down seven times, stand up eight”, indeed). Today it stands tall and thick that two adults cannot grasp its width. So, architects have built a beautiful ring around it to give it a demarcated space of its own.
Tea house, Shanghai, China
Amid the twisted neo-impressionist twisting of this building’s timber-formed concrete, a tree rises like quite the Phoenix.
Tree in the house, Almaty, Kazakhstan
In the centre of this house, designed by Almasov Aibek, is a mighty 40-feet fir tree. The house itself is designed in the form of concentric rings around the tree.
The fence with a tree
Even when thinking of his house’s security, the owner of this house has left the tree intact, building his fence around its trunk.
Turkish villa in Izmir
The villa, palatial in proportions, has a beautiful, mighty, and tall tree growing through it.
The house in Virginia
It has a perfect standing, mid-height tree growing right through it.
Apartments in Poland
These apartments have trees from the surrounding forests absolutely incorporated and integrated into their innovative designs.
Casa Vogue, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The casa has a tree with associated moss and vines around its trunk, right in the centre of it, growing through it and with it.
Residence in Austin, Texas
Again, this house has a perfect standing medium-sized tree right in the middle of its courtyard.
“Green Turin”
Luciano Pia, an Italian architect, designed this five-storied mix of green trees and conventional architecture called 25 Verde, in Turin. The residents say they feel like they live in a giant treehouse.
The house in LA, California
This house’s architect decided to keep a giant tree intact in one of the bedrooms. Perfect balance between nature and civilization!
Casa Corallo, Guatemala
A beautiful tree’s trunk and extremely neo-modern designing have been combined in this house here.
If only all the nations and all the people respected Mother Nature to conserve greenery and the ingenuity to do so with such artsiness.
