A conceptual scheme by a team of South Korean designers calls for inserting towers within the hollowed-out trunks of giant sequoias in the western US.
Called Tribute: The Monument of Giant, the visionary scheme imagines buildings constructed within the empty trunks of giant sequoias, a type of redwood tree native to the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. The structures would be placed where heartwood has rotted away, preventing the huge ancient trees from falling.
Giant sequoias are the largest single trees in the world, with average heights of 50 to 85 metres and diameters of six to eight metres. They also are among the oldest living organisms on earth, with certain trees believed to be over 3,000 years old.

The concept ? envisioned by designers Ko Jinhyeuk, Cheong Changwon, Cho Kyuhung and Choi Sunwoong ?
received honourable mention in the 2017 eVolo skyscraper competition.
"This project attempts to show a new architectural approach to human coexistence with nature, in harmony with the nature's temporality," the team said.
"The architecture quietly takes place in the empty void of trunks, without hindering the breathtaking landscape formed by the giants. It then becomes active as an artificial organ to replace the trunks rotten away."
Inside the trees, a structural core would run up the centre and an additional lattice-like cage would form an outer casing behind the thick bark. A series of platforms would provide spaces for education, laborator...