REVIVING THE COURTYARD STYLE OF URBAN HOUSING

Widespread in Los Angeles in the 1920s and 30s, courtyard housing is an attractive alternative to the standard developer formula. Such housing consists of row houses wrapped around an open space, often with formal gardens, water, and seating. Far from being a frill, the courtyard is an essential element in the life of the homes immediately surrounding the space and a "building block" of coherent urbanism for an entire urban district. And yet almost no courtyards have been built in Los Angeles since the early 1930s. Next week Morris Newman will describe the recent work of architects Stefanos Polyzoides and Elizabeth Moule who are reviving this Southern California form.

THE DRUK WHITE LOTUS SCHOOL

It may be the highest inhabited plateau in the world, but the Indian State of Ladakh, at the foot of the Himalayas, has an abundance of ecological projects that provide the Western world with important feedback on sustainable development. For the past five years, engineers and architects from Arup and Arup Associates in London have been working with the Ladakhi Buddhists and the Drupka Trust to provide a self-sustaining community, designed and built using a combination of traditional and modern building methods and materials. Next week ArchitectureWeek contributing editor Don Barker will show how East and West have merged in the construction of the Druk White Lotus School.

HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE AWARDS IN GEORGIA

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation has announced 20 projects that have won excellence awards in the areas of restoration and rehabilitation. These buildings range from the high-profile, Gothic 1867 Old Georgia State Capitol to the modest, rural 1924 Alapaha Colored School. Pictured here is the formal and neoclassical Crane "cottage," constructed on Jekyll Island in the 1900s, now adapted as upscale lodging accommodations. Next week we'll take a look at a few of these projects that have returned to useful life but in accordance with strict historic standards set by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.