At 53 years old, Joab builds tree houses for those he always dreamed of – Arquitetura

Visual artist Joab Pereira da Silva, 53, theorizes that, as children, many adults dreamed of building a treehouse, but didn’t have the skills. Now, he makes this dream come true for other families. Soon, the visual artist, who is also a sculptor and painter, wants to take this dream across the country and travel Brazil with his son in a motorhome, to spread his art around

The artist started building the houses ten years ago, when he was in Visual Arts college. The first was built in Dourados, the second in Ponta Porã and the third in Caarapó. The fourth construction is underway, and will be at the head of Apa, in the city of Antônio João.

Without a physical address, the artist says his “office” is under the trees. He travels to fulfill on-demand orders, and jokes that customers order the house for their children and grandchildren, but end up having just as much fun as the kids.

He travels to fulfill on-demand orders, and jokes that customers order the house for their children and grandchildren, but end up having just as much fun as the kids.

“I make tree houses for children aged zero to 80. It’s really cool because we realize ourselves as children, and it’s magical, I don’t know how to explain it. The nostalgia of making a tree house is immeasurable, it’s really cool, we feel like kids again”, says Joab.

The houses are made with demolition wood or reusing material from dismantled old houses. Demolition wood, according to the artist, has the advantage of already being very dry, meaning it is not at risk of decaying. All the material is collected and taken under the tree, where he sets up the studio to start getting his hands dirty.

The difference with the artist’s work, according to him, is that he does not modify the original structure of the trees to build the house, and ensures that no branches are cut in the process. The most resistant species for building construction, found in abundance in the State, are mango and fig trees.

He explains that it is not possible to pre-design the houses before building, as each tree has a different space and structure. He reports that he carries out an inspection to identify the center of the tree and the firmest branch to hold the house.

“I use the reference of the ones I made to show the client, but each one is different from the other. But it is very resistant, very safe, does not damage the tree, and is very durable. This house I built there [há dez anos, em Dourados] It’s intact, the same way I did it, to this day,” says Joab.

First tree house – Joab says that, when he built his first house, while still at visual arts college, he had never touched a nail and a hammer. The first request came from a farmer, who he met through a fellow architect.

He recalls that he had to learn from scratch, but it didn’t take long to understand how it worked, as the entire process is quite intuitive. The artist explains that his technique was to climb trees and analyze the space, the branches, and then create projects based on his perceptions of the space.

“As I have a good sense of perspective, drawing, things like that, I decided to do it. The branches are all random, you have to create and draw lines in an imaginary space, and then you can build them. As soon as I climb the tree, I already know how to do everything”, details the artist, about his creation process

Traveling “office” – Joab says that he has always been in the habit of traveling to work, and has no intention of establishing a physical address. Three years ago, he bought a bus and is building a motorhome so he can travel around Brazil.

He says he has an autistic son, aged 28, and intends to take him to see the country, while spreading his art around. The vehicle is already running, and the next destination is Cabeceira do Apa, where he will build his fourth tree house.

“The idea is to set up the motorhome to travel around Brazil, doing other types of work, making art, making a tree house”, he declares.

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