By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GOVERNORS ISLAND — A colorful treehouse that teaches guests about the environment could be on the way to Governors Island this summer.
Part art installation and part outdoor classroom, the treehouse would invite visitors young and old to climb up into the tree’s leafy branches to change their perspective.
"A treehouse is fun, but it can also be educational," said Benjamin Jones, 34, a Brooklyn resident and the artist behind the project.
Jones designed "A Sustainable TreeHouse" last year as his thesis for a master’s in exhibition design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Made entirely of recycled materials, the treehouse would feature a lookout tower, a tube slide and explanations of how everything was made. Other exhibits on the ground would include two recycled seesaws, a display on how travel affects the environment and a solar charger for cell phones and MP3s.
Jones has already drafted detailed designs and picked a tree at one end of the island’s Parade Grounds to support the house — but he still needs to raise much of the $12,000 the project requires to make it a reality.
"It will definitely happen if the money comes through," Jones said.
If Jones only gets about half of the money, he will still build the treehouse but may eliminate proposed satellite elements, like a windmill-powered record player and a recycled rainwater fountain run by bicycles.
The treehouse, which would fit about eight to 10 people at a time, would open June 10 as part of FIGMENT, an annual arts festival on Governors Island, and it would stay in place until the island closes in mid-October, Jones said.
The idea for the treehouse came from staff at the Trust for Governors Island, who thought it would fit in well with the island’s hammocks, swings and artist-designed miniature-golf course, Jones said. The Trust brought the idea to FIGMENT, and the arts group suggested it to Jones, who liked it so much that he decided to make it the focus of his master’s work.
"The idea of reclaiming and reusing materials is important to me as an artist as well as a person," Jones said. "It’s about [doing] something meaningful for the planet."
Jones has previously designed artwork for Governors Island, including an enormous dragon sculpture made out of chairs and other found objects, which was shown in 2009.
Jones is currently raising money for A Sustainable TreeHouse on Kickstarter.com, where the project has attracted $730 in donations so far.
