(Inca goddess “Earth Mother”)

This tree-like structure was a collaborative installation for the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden on the behalf of The Central Coast Green Building Council. The architect Marc Whitman, the general contractor Amanda Martin of Renewal Revolution and myself. We all serve as board members for The Central Coast Green Building Council. We created this tree-like play house to embody the spirt of Gaia, the Greek goddess of Earth with the maternal creative power to sustain life. The interior space of the tree creates a comforting womb-like atmosphere allowing for visiting children engaging with the tree. Various aspects of the structure tell the story of nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration, which are the vital elements in creating, caring for, and sustaining life on earth.

Plants pull carbon from the air and the soil. They use this carbon to grow their structure: stems, branches, leaves and so on. As plants die back and lose their leaves, this carbon-rich material falls to the ground. Once on the ground, fungi break this carbon-rich material in to sugars and nutrients and feed them back to plants. Rich, fungal driven soil is as efficient, if not more efficient, at pulling carbon out of our atmosphere then plants themselves. When soils are respected it is a perfect system.

However, conventional agricultural and forestry practices disturb and destroy the fine balance in soils. These disturbances weaken our plant communities, and lessen plants’ ability to pull greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere.

The material used to create the Gaia Tree offer solutions for building sustainably, honoring our forests, and accounting for carbon emissions. The materials and lumber are salvaged or FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified. The structure also incorporates cob, which is a sustainable building material made from sand, clay, and straw. Cob has great insulating properties, so it reduces relience on gas and electric heating and cooling as well as being extremely fire resistant.

Thanks to Santa Barbara Botanic Garden for having us, and thanks to the volunteers who helped make it all happen.