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These days, architects and engineers are utilizing the latest building modeling software to design some of the most unusual, unique, innovative and sometimes even bizarre-looking buildings. Whereas before, structural capabilities were limited by what a building material could or couldn't do, today there exist multiple solutions for every kind of structural problem. In other words, if you can dream it, it can, most likely, be built.

Limiting the choices to just a few of these structures would be doing a disservice to all the other innovative buildings of the world, for there are simply too many to name them all. From built to unbuilt, from competition entries to proposals, architects everywhere are pushing boundaries. If the client is willing to take a risk with a building that breaks the mold of "traditional"-looking structure, the freedom the architect is then given can lead to the most dazzling visual landscapes.

Overwhelmingly, the concept of green design/sustainability seems to be prevalent at the fronts of the minds of everyone, not just architects. Similarly, with the latest buildings, architects are experimenting with creating buildings that are responsive to the surrounding landscape, climate and environment. The buildings' functions and layouts, without a doubt, correlate more and more with their performance and energy consumption implications. Thus, for the sake of limiting the broad scope of the category of interesting building structures, it is worthy to take a look at those buildings that most readily employ environment-friendly techniques to reduce their overall impact on this planet.

The first building is the (un)Plug building by R&Sie(n) architects. Similarly to the complexity of the firm's written name, the building is an elaborated, in-depth study of its skin and function. Commissioned by the research department of the French Public Electricity Company to develop a building that gains its energy from the sun, the firm realized that necessary alterations to a generic skyscraper typology needed to be made in order to meet the desired energy requirements. This goal led the firm to design a reactive building facade that responds to the surrounding environment. Such features as the hairiness of the facade for thermal sensors and the swelling of the glass skin for photovoltaic cells led to an unusual facade form, penetrated by bubble-like elements.

Another skyscraper, sensitive to its environment through its skin, is the Clean Technology Tower by

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