Architects Ifat Finkelman and Deborah Warschawski have created an wooden-slatted tree house as part of a courtyard renewal project at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

The entrance courtyard renovation at The Youth Wing for Art Education, Israel Museum Jerusalem uses a large pine tree as the central focus.

The roofed tree house, which is illuminated at night, is made of a series of wooden boards attached to a light steel skeleton set around the tree.

Giving the effect of hovering above the entrance to the museum, the structure, which has a soft rubber surface, gives visiting children a place to play in the main gathering area.

The existing pine tree is the focus of the project, the physical anchor of the design concept, set against the modern concrete and stone architectural surroundings of the museum.

Ifat Finkelman said: “As a tribute to the childhood collective memory of a tree house, a small roofed structure where children can hide and over look at is positioned high up the tilted trunk, raised above the meticulous surroundings of the museum.”

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