THE BEST BUILDINGS IN 2001

The annual Arup World Architecture Awards program has announced the "best new buildings" of 2001. Selected from almost 300 international projects from 45 countries, the overall winner was the American Folk Art Museum in New York by Tod Williams Billie Tsien & Associates. One of the category winners, for best one-off house, went to Shigeru Ban Architects for the Naked House (pictured) in Saitama, Japan. Next week we'll take a look a this and a few other selected projects.

SLUM NETWORKING SUCCESS IN INDIA

Today one in four people in urban India lives in subhuman conditions. These slums are characterized by a breakdown of physical infrastructure and the built environment. The inhabitants face the real threat of disease, with little or no access to drinking water and sanitation. Yet within these slums a quiet revolution is taking place. "The Slum Networking Program," pioneered by structural engineer Himanshu Parikh, challenges conventional norms of redevelopment. With assistance from Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, Parikh's firm has demonstrated a new approach in several cities. Next week, Sarosh Anklesaria will explain their processes and prospects for success.

WHAT'S NEW IN LONDON

In the past few years, London has seen the emergence of well publicized millennium projects, giving world attention to the city as an architectural capital of the world. But design innovation is more than just in the high-profile public structures of the Great Court at the British Museum, the Millennium Bridge, or the Millennium Dome. Less publicized trends are visible in the realm of low-rise multifamily residential architecture. Next week we'll look at some examples of public housing emerging in a stylish form.