Dreaming of a Tree House: Frei Otto's Ecological Project in Berlin

Directed by Beate Lendt

85 minutes / Color
English / English subtitles
Release: 2012
Copyright: 2011

DREAMING OF A TREE HOUSE is a film about the pioneering community-building project of the world-famous architect Frei Otto in Berlin, called the Okohaus-an experimental, ecological, customized housing project in the city center.

Including interviews with Frei Otto, Christine Kanstinger-Otto, Hermann Kendel, Yona Friedman, Anne Lacaton & Jean-Philippe Vassal, and other involved architects, planners, and inhabitants, the film shows the development and the philosophy of the project, which was built for the International Building Exhibition in Berlin 1987 (IBA).

The "Ecohouse" project hosts a number of experimental solutions to adaptable home building and personalization. The film explores the ideas that motivated the project, its underlying sustainability themes, and asks how these ambitions were realized.

DREAMING OF A TREE HOUSE ultimately asks: What can we learn from the Okohaus? How can its design, building process, and the experience of its 20-plus year occupation inform ecological and design issues currently relevant to our society?

"Has important implications for the future of urban planning, sustainable cities, and the human condition in the postmodern environment."—Janina Ciezadlo, Afterimage

"Recommended...DREAMING OF A TREE HOUSE illuminates a fascinating project and successful example of environmentally sustainable architecture that should be more known worldwide."—Educational Media Reviews Online

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Select Accolades

  • World Premiere, 2011 Architecture Film Festival (Rotterdam)

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