“A tree house, a free house, a secret you and me house, a high up in the leafy branches cozy as can be house...“ - Shel Silverstein

 Hands down, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t have wanted to live in a tree house as a kid. It’s not necessarily connected to a matter of privacy or exclusiveness, but to haptics and the fact that it’s just great to basically feel safe and sound while towering over the rest of the crew.

Last year Berlin based friends Julius Lehniger and David Neuen introduced a new kind of tree house to the public: the LIFTCABIN. They’ve built the first prototype from predominantly recycled construction material in an abandoned steel mill in Berlin-Neukölln, which certainly added a significant visual touch to the stunning result - and even better: they left it hanging there as a shelter for the local homeless that usually won’t stand a chance against the nasty Berlin winter. Their multifunctional follow-up project for the Katapult Festival then was blurring the lines between architecture and design - the tension belt system to lift the whole thing remained, but the execution was an entirely different one. At this very moment, the two DIY engineers are already working on their third chapter of the LIFTCABIN saga. Stay tuned for more... or get directly in touch with its creators via mail. 

“LIFTCABIN works like a prefabricated home. With 16 parts it is built within two hours. The prototype accommodates eight people. You can easily disassemble, pack, and bring it to a new location. After all it weighs just 350kg. It is secured and lifted using tension belts, which have such power that the house could be prospectively planned also much larger. Another advantage of LIFTCABIN is that the tree remains unharmed. When the tree grows and LIFTCABIN hangs crooked after a while, you just retighten the belt. This flexibility cannot be provided by an ordinary tree house. Moreover there is a lot of potential in the multi-functionality. In addition to the obvious possibility of using it as a classic tree house, it is conceivable to use the object for exhibition booths, theater performances, as a bed at festivals or as accommodation for the homeless.“

“Not many people are aware of the project so far and we are also not particularly in pursuit to promote it in big style. However, our first little house already made it into the Iriedaily Fall/Winter 2014 lookbook. This made us very happy.“

“People can easily relate to our project. I think it is the topic of home and existence, the human desire for a private haven, which plays a major role. In LIFTCABIN you float above it all. The simplicity of the system, which anyone can relate to, also delights. Also the need for slow movement and the longing for the simple life may be other reasons. It also raises the essential question of how much space and comfort a person needs to live. How much am I allowed to take from nature? What is ours?“

- The quotes are an abstract from an original interview the guys did for Vintagency.