Forest Architecture
Architecture that works with forests, woodland sites, and tree cover, from retreats and cafés to museums and island communities.
Forest architecture concerns buildings sited within or shaped by wooded landscapes, where trees, canopy, light, and terrain become primary design constraints. Designers working in this area must balance minimal ground disturbance with the programmatic needs of housing, hospitality, and cultural space.
Member work here spans scales and typologies, from a minimalist retreat in Brazil and a café built around a single large tree to a mountainside resort in Sichuan and a museum framed as a living archive of woodland memory. Community contributions also consider forest-adjacent settlements and the relationship between built form and natural cover.
Popular projects
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Latest journals
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The Grove: A Vietnamese Street Market Built Like a Mangrove, Roots First
Arching roots, overlapping sails and blocks of flowering trees turn a plaza into an argument for protecting the shoreline's most valuable plants.
AR-AR Martínez, MEC Arquitectura and Fiallo Atelier Raise Two Contemplation Shelters in a Colombian Cloud Forest
In Villamaría, Colombia, a pair of dark timber shelters on stilts anchors Campano Frío, a reforestation effort built around rest, rain and fog.
Museum of Woods: Architecture as a Living Archive of Forest Memory
A contemplative journey through water, soil, and wood reframes the museum as a wall-less gallery where nature becomes the exhibit.
House L by Kiti Vieira Arquitetura: A Minimalist Forest Retreat in Paraty, Brazil
House L by Kiti Vieira Arquitetura is a 54 m² forest retreat in Paraty, using eucalyptus, polycarbonate, and sustainable, elevated minimalist design.
