The Eye

This Net Suspended Between Trees Lets You Explore the Forest Like a Squirrel

Numen/For Use

Croatian and Austrian industrial design studio Numen/For Use has carved a singular niche as the wizards behind futuristic bounce houses and other gigantic net-based temporary structures that allow the playful exploration of space from unprecedented angles.

Numen/For Use

Their latest venture is Tube Merano, an installation in South Tyrol, Italy, that’s part of the “Art & Nature: Walking With Senses” component of the Merano Spring Festival that runs until June 5. Reinventing the concept of a nature walk, the designers have erected a suspended web strung between trees that allows visitors to navigate the landscape from above ground.

Numen/For Use

Numen/For Use

Numen/For Use

Numen/For Use

“The idea was to respond to the context and develop a dialogue between the installation and the natural environment/landscape,” the designers write in a project description. “In this case the gnarly branches and lush foliage of the several magnificent pine-trees growing in the village park.”

Numen/For Use

Numen/For Use

Numen/For Use

Describing the structure as an “undulating caterpillar,” the designers say that they were able to offer nature-lovers “a spiralling walk through the tree tops” by suspending the net from sturdy branches and “massive” tree trunks, with additional supports on the grassy terrain below.

“Due to the visual richness of the trees, the structural tendons are rendered almost invisible,” they say, “adding to the wonder effect of a levitating forest skyway.”