Something about the pictures of treehouses Amber posted a few times over the history of MLKSHK was interesting enough that I started a whole shake for them. Between those and other stuff that feels similar, I'd guess my interest is from some combination of:

• plain biophilia
• depiction of a technology for living (another part of Anathem's world building I love)
• exploration of boundaries, since some of the examples aren't even about nature spaces

I was going to use what I guess was a picture of this trailer hotel as an example of the last, but I don't get the same feeling from it that I remember. The friggebod evokes that better, and I loved similar projects that came up in the few issues of ReadyMade that I read.

If this interest is a psychic hunger, telling me what nutrients I need, then I guess it's about having that cave where I can figure things out, or apply myself. I often get the same vibe from pictures from Simple Desks (which I usually see by way of Minimal Mac). This one of Garrett Murray's, for example, is organized but a little lived in, with nice color but room to think. I only just got my stuff moved into this apartment I've had for seven months, and I'm not sure if or how to make it afford those uses (not only in various complaints I have about the apartment itself but I don't want to whine about that). Right now I still only feel like I can work in coffee shops (so far from ideal) or with the kind occasional loan of an office. I wish I had (or felt I had) enough control of my space to put together a cave so I might actually get some work done.

The treehouse seems more social than a cave, though, conceptually. All the virtual treehouses I've seen have certainly been social. I think I heard from Simon that in his circles treehouse is a real term of art for those private internet places where your clique gathers. At least, the idea resonated enough to inform the still-unclear project I want to do in that area. While it's easier to build such a place with real space metaphors (on MUDs or Second Life or what-have-you), even the ones that don't have space per se (IRC, web forums, etc) become places through the character of your friends and interactions there.

So really, what's a treehouse but a multiplayer cave?