Ideo Morph 38: Thailand

View from the southwest side of Ideo Morph 38 towers.

(W Workspace)

Gardens are no longer meant to be just a plot in your backyard. Green walls, also known as "living walls," are the latest trend in sustainable housing designs.

Plant walls do more than add a splash of color. They can lower your heating and cooling bills, absorb and recycle rainwater and even pump oxygen into the air.These next few pages highlight some of the coolest building designs that are the wave of the future.

(MORE:The Future of Hurricane-Proof Homes)

We begin with Ideo Morph 38 in Thailand. Somdoon Architects, the firm behind the project, says the development "takes on a symbiotic relationship with the environment."

A series of green installments brings unexpected nature to this city-bound complex. A bark-like structure wraps from the west side of the larger Ashton tower to the east side of the smaller Skyle tower. The green wall not only acts as a natural shade to keep out the tropical sun, but it also adds a layer of privacy for residents inside.

Outdoor sky gardens are installed at different intervals on both towers, which the architects says creates a vertical landscape.

NEXT:The Wave House

La Maison Vague: France

La Maison Vague's vegetation helps protect the home from extreme temperatures.

(Patrick Nadeau)

Patrick Nadeau's "La Maison Vague" translates to "Wave House." Built just outside Reims, France, the Wave House is a prime example of a modern earth-sheltered home, which is designed to save money by using vegetation to regulate temperature.

Patrick Nadeau's La Maison Vague in France is covered with vegetation.

Soil covers the sloping wood roof. The plants on top range from grasses to thyme to perennials like lavender. Those plants work as a natural barrier, keeping extreme heat out during the summer and insulating against extreme cold in the winter.

(PHOTOS: 8 Disaster-Proof Houses)

"The house is alive. She changes her appearance, color and odor with the seasons," Nadeau says. "New plants can be brought by the wind, insects or birds giving the building a character or fallow ground-wave, hence the name House Vague."

NEXT:Farmscapes

Asian Cairns: Shenzhen, China

Vincent Callebaut Architectures combines agriculture with skyscrapers to create 'farmscrapers,' essentially creating rural life in an urban setting.

(VINCENT CALLEBAUT ARCHITECTURES/www.vincent.callebaut.org)

Asian Cairns, by Vincent Callebaut Architectures, is a conceptual "farmscraper" design – basically skyscrapers infused with gardens.