Living Architecture in the Jungles of Cambodia

I travelled to Cambodia to document the temples of  Angkor Wat built by the Ancient Khmer Empire.   Some of the temples are deep in mature rainforest.   I visited the temples of  Ta Prohm (Khmer: ប្រាសាទតាព្រហ្ម)  near Angkor Thom.  This site has been made accesible but much of the mature vegetation has been left intact.  Two tree types have become intertwined with the stone ruins, the larger is either the silk-cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) or thitpok Tetrameles nudiflora^[6], and the smaller is either the strangler fig (Ficus gibbosa).^[7] or Gold Apple (Diospyros decandra).   I love recent projects in contemporary architecture that speculate of a living spaces of architecture  grown from a formed trees and bushes such as FAB TREE HAB by Mitchell Joachim.  The concept inspired me to document what the real spaces of this type of architecture look like.  below I have posted a few of the interesting cases I found there.  I have heard of even better examples in the area but did not have time to investigate,  they have recently cleared most of the landmines in those new areas.

All Images Copyright 2009 Charles Lee. All Rights Reserved.