The US National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has recently awarded $850,00 to 13 design projects in its third annual New Public Works initiative. Up to $75,000 will be provided to each of the 13 organisations to help fund national design competitions for a range of public projects. This year, the emphasis was placed on the design of innovative schools, with eight of the projects involving elementary, secondary and university buildings. The winning competitions for school design include the reuse of an historic elementary school in Cleveland; a new building for the campus of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York; and a prototype for a learning/living centre in Chicago that combines housing and early childhood education programs. Mark Robbins, NEA Director of Design, has commented this year’s focus is based on ‘the crucial role educational facilities play in a community as a component of neighbourhood revitalisation …we hope this initiative will introduce students and their communities to the highest quality design in their daily environments.’ Meanwhile, the NEA has also announced the upcoming publication of a series of five books focused on design in the public realm, and the potential for innovation in landscape architecture and planning across the country. The design program, which has been running at the NEA since 1990, is aimed at promoting excellence through a series of symposia, best-case design studies and prototype projects. The results of such programs have now been documented in the following publications;

The Mayor’s Institute:Excellence in City Design

Sprawl and Public Space:Redressing the Mall

Schools for Cities:Urban Strategies

University/Community Design Partnerships

Your Town:Mississippi Delta Further details on the publications is available at; www.arts.endow.gov/endownews/news02/DesignPubs.html