The Fertile Market, by XTU Architects, combines the ideas of gardening and a market as an answer to what some experts say will be an ongoing world food crisis. (XTU Architects)

As the world's population balloons to a possible 8 billion people by 2025, scientists and researchers warn that food supply and prices will be volatile.

The Fertile Market by Paris-based XTU Architects reinvents the idea of a grocery store by combining gardening and the market into the same space.

"Once a place of exchanges, the market of tomorrow will be a place of production, [and food will be] consumed on the spot," the architects explain.

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Designers envision the structure as a large, wooden, free-form building that runs on passive energy. The roof and some walls will be engineered with specific soil types to nurture different fruits and vegetables, creating what the designers call "the fertile soil of the new food revolution."

The Fertile Market was designed for the Universal Exhibition of Milan in 2015. The expo's theme is "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life," hoping to draw 20 million people during its six month run to exchange ideas about the growing challenges of feeding the world.

Learn more about XTU's other sustainable design projects on the firm's website.

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