This is the latest structure designed to address population growth and an increased strain on resources in the world's biggest cities.

Dystopian Farm by Eric Vergne was a finalist in the Evolo Skyscraper Competition and proposes a sustainable vertical farm for the residents of New York City.

Vergne's design cultivates the idea of providing city dwellers with a sustainable food source in a building, which integrates producers and consumers.

The biomorphic skyscraper is modeled after the plant cells of ferns and provides space for farms, residential areas and markets.

Airoponic watering, nutrient technology and controlled lighting are all a part of the design.

Vergne told Inhabitat.com the structure will change city life as the rat race knows it: "Through food production and consumption, this skyscraper sets up a fluctuation of varying densities and collections of people, bringing together different social and cultural groups, creating new and unforseen urban experiences that form and dissipate within the flux of city life."

It is fantastic that all these striking and really visual, leafy, sustainable skyscrapers are being designed.

It would be even better if we could actually get one built in a city like New York. Let's hope the Singapore one comes through.

A Japanese architect has shunned the old 'four walls and one roof' chestnut of home design and is building these futuristic houses across the world.

Like a lot of men before him, Shuhei Endo is all about curves - but not in the way you're thinking.

Dynamic roof shapes are his bag and each project seems to aim for a more imaginative use of shape than the one before.

His buildings don't just look good, they have cool names as well, such as Bubbletecture (top left, bottom left), Rooftecture M (top right), and Springtecture H (bottom right).

Check out more of his mind-bending designs here.

The developer behind London's skyscraper the Shard of Glass loves building tall buildings so much, he is planning three more!

Developer Irvine Sellar has commissioned Beijing Bird's Nest architects Herzog and de Meuron to design towers rising 100, 200 and 250m high.

They are planned for a site near the Shard at London Bridge Station and will stand just south of City Hall.

A planning application is expected within two months and construction should take seven years.

There are plenty of opponents and one estate agent has commented Sellar is "building his own competition" and is already having trouble selling pads in the Shard.

If the latest designs at New York Fashion Week are anything to go by, fashion is all about breaking down barriers and turning simple trends on their head.

For instance, why have a knitted scarf when you can have a gigantic boa constrictor of a neck warmer that would have taken 12 grandmas two years to knit (as seen in 2008)?

So when it came to redesigning the ironically ugly Fashion District in New York for Women's Wear Daily, one architect turned into a fashion designer - but instead of turning buildings on their head he turned them on their side.

Pentagram's James Biber has proposed six horizontal skyscrapers clad in polka dots, stripes, checks, plaid and stocking mesh throughout the district.

He says: "They connect the various showrooms, designers, sales forces and the occasional workshop while housing the most spectacular runway spaces in the world."

Oh and that "fashion gets a home where it deserves one - far about the street - high in the clouds".

Check out the full proposal here.

Are we even able to call these things skyscrapers, since they aren't in the sky?

This planned Huaxi city centre for Guiyang, China is the latest project to come from the desks of those crazy kids at MAD Architects.

It was developed by 11 different firms, all overseen by MAD and aims to mimic the natural environment (more pics here).

Somehow it looks more like a cyclone has blasted through a futuristic city, leaving wobbly buildings and giant pieces of coral strewn across the surrounding hills.

Maybe this is also a comment on the effects of global warming?

Needless to say it probably won't ever be built. But it's a lot of fun, right?

Here is a skyscraper to interest the shoe-aholics of the world - Dorobani Tower in Bucharest, Romania.

Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, this 200m skyscraper will not only feature 35,000 sq m of luxury hotel stuff such as restaurants and spas, but also 4,600 sq m of shoe shopping space on its lower levels.

True shoe fetishists can even fork out for one of the apartments making up another 35,000 sq m of the building, because when you love something you just want to be near it.

Plans show an oblique diamond shaped tower that bulges in the middle and a patterned, mesh-like facade that changes at various levels. Behind some glazed areas are curved balconies, adding even more detail to the striking skyscraper.

Construction work was supposed to start in 2008 and be finished by 2013, but the tower is yet to be approved.

Architecture's It-girl of the moment Zaha Hadid has won a competition to give a former fire station in Antwerp a new lease on life.

Located on the boundary of Antwerp and its' harbour, the classic fire station will be given a new reflective addition - separating the structure into two distinct halves.

The 46m high addition juts out and above the old building and is made of glass triangles, some reflective and some transparent.

These triangles are slightly rotated, which reflects the incoming light and apparently pays tribute to Antwerp's diamond history.

The massive extension will be supported by three sculptured concrete pillars, which also house the lifts and stairs (for a full description go here).

Zaha Hadid explains: "The dichotomy between the reflective, faceted form of the new extension and the powerful structural mass of the existing fire station creates a bold and enigmatic statement for the city."

And she is sure right - but with such a daring juxtaposition of old and new, it will definitely to raise a few eyebrows in Antwerp.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2013.

This year I've taken a hammer and some nails to my usual Christmas stocking in the hopes that Santa delivers this hefty tome.

The Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century World Architecture is a monumental altar at which one may worship modern architecture.

The 800-page bible shows off 1,000 of the most outstanding projects built since the year 2000, putting paid to the notion that the present is inferior to the past.

It not only shows off the creativity of today's architects but also the cutting-edge construction processes and materials used in these iconic buildings.

One great project highlighted is the Sussex East Beach Cafe (left), which manages to look like a piece of driftwood washed up on the beach.

Design practice Heatherwick Studio used a pre-fabricated mild steel shell for the exterior of the building, which will rust and gain character as it ages.