A community project space dedicated to arboreal futures

The Lightning House is a semi-permanent structure located in The Farm at Awbury. Created in the Spring and Summer of 2023 out of a former stone carriage house, the space serves as a collective woodworking, performance and gathering space.

On an annual basis S(tree)twork transforms trees that have fallen in the arboretum and sculpts them into percussion instruments that are played by the S(tree)twork Drum Corp in tree planting events across the city organized by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) Tree Tenders program. Over time, S(tree)twork has been gradually adding to a suite of instruments played by the growing S(tree)twork drum corp to “summon the future forest” of Philadelphia.

The Lightning House will also host the S(tree)twork Sensory Sessions series and other community events organized by, PHS, and Awbury Arboretum.

The design for the Lightning House evolved out of two years of wandering and listening that culminated in the S(tree)twork Form and Function community design workshop convened in April 2022. Futurefarmers’ lead architect Lode Vranken’s visionary design centers around the life cycle of trees. Its interior space anticipates the need for woodworking while its accessible roof will serve as a community assembly space under the trees.

A 126-year-old hemlock that had fallen in the Arboretum serves as the central support beam for the Lighting House as well as benches.

On April 22, 2023 S(tree)twork will celebrate Earth Day with a "ground building" ceremony for a new structure in the Farm at Awbury Arboretum, and an afternoon animated by hands-on activities.

The S(tree)twork project is guided by the cycle of a tree's life. Following a seasonal rhythm. S(tree)twork transforms fallen trees into percussive instruments that are then played at street planting events in Philadelphia's neighborhoods. This program has been developed through a two-year participatory process led by the artists group Futurefarmers.

The architectural intervention at Awbury Arboretum will be built on the ruins of a former stone barn, and will serve as a community woodworking space for the making of S(tree)twork's musical instruments. The structure designed by Futurefarmer's lead architect Lode Vranken was informed by a community design process and will be built together with Japanese wood joinery wookworker, Nobuto Suga joining from San Francisco. Participants in the Challenge Program and other volunteers will also contribute to the building of the structure being stewarded by the Philadelphia architectural studio Oz Collaborative, and Hanson Fine Building.