As cities have grown, housing has had to be provided to accommodate the increasing population. Driven primarily by the need to provide housing as cheaply and efficiently as possible, the ideas developed by the early Modernists have informed housing schemes worldwide. Today, in the context of a very different urban landscape, architects optimistic about high-density living are revisiting the conventional types and evolving new models. After an introduction covering the recent development of the apartment block as an urban housing type, this book consists of four chapters devoted to recent examples of urban housing from around the world. The projects are selected for their ability to demonstrate an innovative architectural approach. French examines four formal typologies: terraces and row houses, quadrangles and courtyards, city blocks and infill, and towers and slabs. Photographs, drawings and specially drawn site plans place each featured project in its surrounding context.

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Hilary French is Head of the School of Architecture & Design at the Royal College of Art, London. She has written and edited a number of books including Architecture: A Crash Course (1998, author) and Accommodating Change: Innovation in Housing (2002, editor).