Ever felt envious of birds? You should be. They fly wherever they please, without carbon guilt or security checks. They get wide landscapes all to themselves and perch high up in trees. They get all the best perspectives.
Well, you can now channel our feathered friends by sleeping inside a human-sized birdbox in the middle of the Norwegian wilderness.
Photograph: Livit
Norwegian designer Torstein Aa has designed birdboxes for humans: small, cabin-style shelters which can be installed in remote locations with minimal impact on their surroundings. They have been designed using shapes and shades inspired by Norway’s mountains, so they blend in.
Constructed to withstand extreme weather, the tiny stuctures contain beds, chairs and epic views from three of the box’s four sides. Toilets come in their own separate boxes with full-length one-way glass windows. Yep: loos with views.
Photograph: Livit
‘We wanted to create a product that could enable unique experiences, with minimal footprint,’ the designer explains. ‘Built in composites to withstand any environment with no need for maintenance, Birdbox can be lifted in place with a helicopter and mounted on columns for a minimal and reversible footprint in the nature.’
Photograph: Livit
Two of the tiny structures are already available to rent on Airbnb. Birdbox Langeland is surrounded by mountains: in winter, you can ski right out of the box and onto the snow.
Photograph: Livit
Meanwhile Birdbox Fauske is perched high on a hill between the Blegja mountain range and the Førdefjord: perfectly located for hikes, wild swimming and admiring rural vistas from the comfort of your bed.
Proof a bird’s eye view is the best kind of view.
