Todd Heisler/The New York Times
Roderick Wolgamott Romero stood within the treehouse he designed for Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Of all the trees toppled in the city by Hurricane Sandy, perhaps none had been more lovely than those in public gardens and arboretums. At Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the storm's victims included Persian ironwood, persimmon, black walnut and Japanese flowering cherry trees.
Instead of turning all that dead wood into mulch, however, officials at the garden commissioned a treehouse architect (a niche profession, to be sure) to use the trunks and twigs as his muse. The result is "Sandy Remix," a big, bosky structure by Roderick Wolgamott Romero that seems to evoke an osprey's nest more than a treehouse.
In the shadow of a majestic Caucasian wingnut tree, the sculpture officially makes its debut on Saturday and will offer 200 square feet of interior space — bigger than some hotel rooms — for contemplation of the landscape and, most of all, pretend play.
"We were looking for a way to meaningfully repurpose the trees that came down in Sandy," said Kathryn Glass, the garden's vice president for marketing and public engagement. "We wanted something beautiful and ephemeral, and that would really thrill the kids."
The structure is a treehouse in name only, in that it is not actually connected to a tree, but instead a free-standing elevated platform, five feet off the ground, surrounded by woody material.
Mr. Romero, who is originally from Seattle, got started with treehouses a decade ago, when he built one in a community garden in the East Village, where he lives. He has since fashioned 54 tree houses; his clients have included clients like the fashion designer Donna Karan, the actors Julianne Moore and Val Kilmer, and the performers Sting and Laurie Anderson.
While his work for private clients has appeared in far-flung locales like Italy and New Mexico, the treehouse in Brooklyn Botanic Garden was his first public commission. "It's an absolute honor," Mr. Romero said.
Some 80 trees were destroyed in the garden by Hurricane Sandy and the subsequent nor'easter, including 11 little-leaf lindens from the Osborne Garden. The majority of the materials used in the treehouse came from the two storms. But Mr. Romero also incorporated some leftover wood from Tropical Storm Irene, as well as willow branches and twigs from the garden's previous site-specific sculpture, "Natural History," by Patrick Dougherty. That work was dismantled in December.
In thinking about his design, Mr. Romero drew inspiration from disparate talents like the Dadaist artist Marcel Duchamp, the children's book author Maurice Sendak and the designer Isamu Noguchi. Aiming to use every single scrap of tree debris, Mr. Romero randomly inserted chunks of wood along the treehouse's exterior, which he said was a nod to Duchamp.
At the center of the treehouse is an octagonal floor, 14 feet across, of alternating walnut and pin oak planks. Along one side is a rough-hewed bench, and all around are weathered willow branches and other long twigs that form ebullient arches.
Mr. Romero worked closely with John Duvall, a miller from Irvington, N.Y., who cut giant logs into 18-foot beams that were used to underpin the structure. Mr. Duvall also cut chunky hexagonal pieces that serve as steps for two entrances into the treehouse. He said that the largest log, at 7,000 pounds, was too heavy for his mill and had to be carved with a precision machine.
Because the construction resembles a bird's nest, with exterior ornamentation wedged in without screws or nails, Mr. Romero conceded that children might be tempted to pluck a willow branch here, a maple log there. "It's going to happen," he said with a shrug.
Then again, his entire work is not long for this world. Ms. Glass said it would remain in the garden for a couple of years. And who knows? By then, there might be a new wood pile, wrought by a future hurricane, from which to draw inspiration.
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