Dré Wapenaar is a Rotterdam-based artist whose primary medium is tents - environments designed to shape encounters, whether between individuals or for large groups. Dre's portfolio includes a tent for reading newspapers, a birthing tent, "Deathbivouac," the "Pavilion of Loneliness," "Tree Tents" and "4GPP" - a pavilion for the performance of Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt's "Concerto for Four Grand Pianos."
Above: Artist Dre Wapenaar
Most of his tents are art pieces or sculptures and are not sold for commercial use. In the blogosphere, he's best known for his unusual looking tree tents, first created in 1998:
Here's a little background. The first 3 Treetents were produced for Campsite De Hertshoorn in Garderen in 1998. They were built by brothers Gertjan and Dré Wapenaar, as well as the steel frame as the manufacturing of the canvas.
In 2005 they built a new edition of the Treetent or Boomtent (this one can be loaned out and used for shows directly from Studio Dré Wapenaar).
TREETENT 2005 EDITION/ BOOMTENT EDITIE 2005
Only ten were produced of the 2005 edition in the following colors:
- forest-green
- dark-grey
- dark-beige
- bright-white
Engineer: Technisch Buro Cor de Heer
Steel Frame: Constructor Dick van Campenhout, Waalhaven Rotterdam.
Canvas: Ten Cate Technical Fabrics
And I bet you didn't know that he actually has little ones for birds as well! Birdtent orders can be made directly via the studio.
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, he's created a lot more than just the Treetents or BoomTents (as they are called in the Netherlands). Below are a few from his portfolio.
Tent Village, begun in 2001 and revisted in 2007:
A Shower Tent, 1997:
A BBQ Tent, 1997:
A Birthing Tent, 2003:
The Four Grand Piano Pavilion, 2004:
Camp Tent, 2008:
The Recital Pavilion, 2008:
More tents to see at his site.
Studio Dré Wapenaar
Vaandrigstraat 10,
3034 PX Rotterdam
The Netherlands