As we all know too well, the progressive values of early Modernism led to great experiments in social housing. Architects today are adopting, as they have before, the vision of their idealistic predecessors, but learning from the mistakes of post­World War II public projects. There is a growing insight that the best housing is integrated with social services as well as connected to the urban fabric and the wider community. One size, though, does not fit all. In this special section, we present more than a dozen new examples that demonstrate the vastly different scales, contexts, and approaches to accommodating the needs of various populations around the world. Most are new construction; some, such as Park Hill in Sheffield, England, represent a radical reworking of the failed promises of Modernist ideals from an earlier era.

Pictured: Park Hill, designed by Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith (1961). Renovated by Hawkins\Brown and Studio Egret West; Photo © Keith Collie

Social Housing Projects
Recent work from around the world that shows architects taking new approaches to housing.

Photo © Filip Dujardin

Renewed Promise
Two teams of architects employ very different strategies to reinvigorate a pair of ambitious 1960s apartment projects, one in the north of England and the other in Paris.

Photo © Keith Collie

Beyond Architecture
As the world’s population of informal-settlement dwellers races to the 1.5 billion mark, designers and planners must play a central, if redefined, role.

Photo © Flavie Halais

A House for All Seasons
In the Chinese province of Shaanxi, John Lin's House For All Seasons reimagines the vernacular village dwelling, creating a model for sustainability.

Photo courtesy Rural Urban Framework

In Search of the $100 House
Designers strive to provide super-low-cost dwellings worthy of being called homes.

Photo © Ying Chee Chui

Social Housing U.S.A.
The architecture has evolved, joining design with support services.

Pictured: Fox Courts affordable housing in Oakland, CA; Photo © Frank Domin

A Roof of One's Own
How good design is expanding the options for social housing.

Photo © Michel Arnaud

Home-for-All
In the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the eastern coast of Japan two years ago this month, the small town of Rikuzentakata has looked to the ruins for renewal.

Photo © Iwan Baan