The TREExOFFICE (TxO) was an outdoor urban co-working and community gathering space inspired by artist, engineer, and inventor Natalie Jeremijenko and originally created thanks to a collaboration between Jeremijenko, EAC, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and the CU Program in Environmental Design, among many other collaborators. TxO was part of Jeremijenko’s DESIGNxBOULDER project, designed to help us re-think our relationship to the natural world, and our responsibility for securing its future.

Jeremijenko’s work often combines the laws of nature. whole systems thinking, and engineering concepts to offer feasible solutions to environmental issues. Boulder’s TxO was built around a linden tree in Civic Area Park, thanks to the help of City of Boulder then Assistant Forester and Guardian of the Urban Forest, Patrick Bohin. The office included a platform that wrapped around the tree trunk and was shaded by its branches, with a conference table, six desks, and free wifi. TxO was designed and built by CU Boulder students under the guidance of faculty member Marce de Lange with the inspiration from Jeremijenko.

Jeremijenko’s concept for the TREExOFFICE was based on the Tree That Owns Itself in Athens, Georgia, whose owner so loved his tree that, before his death, he willed the tree and the land surrounding it to the tree. Other TREExOFFICES, have been built in New York City, Berlin, and London, with each office designed with and by different community partners in response to local ecosystems, city rules and regulations, resources, challenges, and opportunities.

In each location, the TREExOFFICE grants ownership of the office to the tree so the tree becomes its own landlord. In many of the locations, the TREExOFFICE may be reserved in advance on the tree’s online reservation system. All proceeds from reservations of the office are given back to the tree for its benefit and upkeep.

Standing for the rights of nature and against the explicit power that land rights have granted a small section of our society, Jeremijenko poses the question, “If non-human organisms own property, will that change their explicit value in a market-based participatory democracy?”

Jeremijenko’s TxOs are based on the philosophy of mutualistic systems design, in which the tree and office not only benefit each other, but also benefit the surrounding ecosystem including humans, birds, insects, soil microbes, and other intelligent creatures. Humans benefit from immersion in the sensual experience of working beneath a tree and observing usually overlooked natural processes. TxO also raises social boundary questions, including our openness to transparent work practices and the sharing of common space both at work and in public.

DESIGNxBOULDER: Inspiring Community through Art also included both and indoor and an outdoor installation by Jeremijenko, in the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, with TxO located just across the street in Civic Park. In addition to the three primary collaborators of BMoCA, EAC, and the CU Program in Environmental Design, other collaborators included Alan Rabold Photography, BLDG61: Boulder Library Makerspace, DragonDev, Harlequin’s Gardens, Lusciously Local Edible Landscapes, Made in Nature, McGuckin Hardware, simPRO Software, Studio NYL, CU Boulder’s Laboratory of Dean Bowers, and the CU Measurements and Data Analysis Program, among others.