The U.S. home builders and suppliers, funded by the Federal government, have developed new methods and technologies to improve the energy efficiency and reduce the cost of single-family housing. This report by Michael Crosbie, one of the researchers involved in the effort, reviews the work done so far and looks ahead to future collaborative efforts to advance this huge sector of the U.S. economy.

With the coming of computers and the Internet, the relationship of the physical and virtual worlds has shifted. Virtual environments will not replace physical ones, but the nature, location, and function of the latter will change, creating both challenges and opportunities for architects.

The library at Sunshine Coast University, Queensland was completed three years ago. The library is both the physical heart and the social focus of the new campus. Two firms of architects collaborated on the design: one, Lawrence Nield & Partners, with extensive experience of major projects and the other, John Mainwaring & Associates, familiar with the local climate. The low budget encouraged innovatory construction. The building is of interest for its visual openness, its suitability for the subtropical climate and the extensive use of timber for cladding and screening.

Healing gardens have been widely used in healthcare settings, but rarely to heal the psychological illnesses of youth in inner-city neighbourhoods who have lost friends and family to violent deaths. The Urban Ecology Sanctuary in a courtyard of Du Sable High School in Chicago serves as a model of what such a garden might be like, providing places in which young people can reflect upon their loss, regain a sense of purpose, and reconnect to the natural world. This Sanctuary shows how architecture and landscape architecture can buffer the worst effects of social disruption.

Two buildings constructed in early twentieth-century Shanghai, one by a U.S. bank, the other by a shipping company, and both designed by a New York architect reveal the complex aesthetic and cultural issues that architecture must address in a global setting. These issues go beyond the buildings' facades to their construction, use, layout, leasing, and imagery. These two examples suggest that more comprehensive analyses of early twentieth-century commercial buildings in many global settings should lead to a clearer understanding of their significance.

Prefabricated wall systems are becoming a popular element of building construction, lending themselves to streamlining construction schedules and reducing overall construction costs. They also offer the potential for increased quality due to assembly in controlled factory environments. This paper reviews basic principles and concepts for the design of waterproofing systems for prefabricated brick wall panels. Using a project case study, the author shows that failure to adhere to certain proven conventional practices can have serious adverse consequences.

Cambridge University and Microsoft are planning a shared computer research and teaching laboratory on a green-field site to the west of the city. The clients wished to use Internet based communication between themselves and their architects, including email, a website and virtual reality. We explain how this is to be achieved, and describe experiences during the first half of a two year project. Particularly successful has been the use of games software (Quake II) for 3D presentation of the emerging building design.

The AERC provides a focal point within Australia, on issues of indigenous housing and architecture for academic, government and community sectors. It fulfils three functions as: an undergraduate and postgraduate teaching centre, a research practice, and an archive incorporating an extensive collection of literature and images. The allied consultancy practice delivers services ranging from architectural design and settlement planning, to anthropological research, and has worked with numerous indigenous agencies, as well as government and private sector clients. Contact: Assoc. Prof. Paul Memmott, Director

Practice for us began with a series of near dilapidated cottages in East Anglia which were to be renovated with the help of a housing improvement grant and much labour from the clients and sometimes even the architects. This must have appealed to the officer who handed out the grants as whenever anyone arrived at his door with a cottage that had a demolition order on it they were sent to us. To aid this practice we soon purchased a copy of Handisyde's Everyday Details. With all respect to Handisyde, the most memorable image to come out of this book was a drawing of a thatched dovecote made from an old barrel. This drawing, in the Foreword, was attributed to Edwin Gunn, the author of Little Things that Matter forthose Who Build, published by The Architectural Press in 1923. Gunn's book had been the inspiration for the new Everyday Details.