New Public Art Insanity: Tree Houses in Madison Square Park

We may be about to lose Olafur Eliasson's Waterfalls (Remember them? The ones killing trees in Brooklyn?) but we're about to gain another bit of public art insanity: "Tree Huts" in Madison Square Park. They'll be a collection of small wooden structures tucked into the trees. "To some, they may evoke childhood memories of hiding out in treehouses; to others, they may suggest flimsy shelters built by the homeless." It's the work of Tadashi Kawamata, who built a web of scaffolding around the Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island a long time ago. Photo op advisory: construction of the huts starts September 23 and will go until October 1. No word on whether Shake Shack will deliver to them.
· Tadashi Kawamada--Tree Huts [madisonsquarepark.org]
· Urban Refuges, Floating in the Flatiron District’s Air [NYT]