If it weren’t for, you know, concrete and steel—more of us would be living in buildings like this planned Norwegian tower. At 16 to 17 storeys high, it’ll also outdo this crazy Russian do-it-yourselfer who built a 13-storey wooden castle:

(That’s Nikolai Sutyagin from Arkhangelsk in Russia’s north-east).

But I digress. The Norwegian Barents Secretariat office and cultural tower will be built with natural and recycled materials from the surrounding area. The designers, Oslo-based Reiulf Ramstad Architects, are focusing on sustainable building and carbon neutrality.

They also hope to reuse biodegradable household and industrial waste to produce biogas. Mmm. Like fresh pine cones!

[Barents Observer via Inhabitat]