Young American architects are rebuilding Prague housing estate
Prague's Jiho-zapadni mesto or 'southwest town' is one of the biggest housing estates in the Czech capital. Built by the communist authorities in the 1970s in a bid to provide housing for the capital's growing workforce, it now lacks both the infrastructure and transport to meet its inhabitants' needs. But all this might change. Alena Skodova reports:
As part of this year's Prague - European City of Culture 2000 project, a group of students from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at New York's Columbia University took it upon themselves to re-plan the housing estate with the aim of upgrading the existing structures. They were led by Professor Richard Plunz:
