Projects to watch

Staiths South Bank
Next week, fashion guru Wayne Hemingway unveils his first-ever housing project – a 700-home estate in Gateshead for Wimpey. Proper architects have pooh-poohed the scheme, which has normal-looking houses set in car-free, landscaped gardens – but the avalanche of enquiries from would-be buyers suggests that the punters love it.

Selfridges in Birmingham
Later this month, the plastic sheeting comes down to reveal Future Systems' wierd, windowless store, which resembles a sagging loaf of bread covered in aluminium discs. Wonder or blunder?

Swiss Re, City of London
Foster's cigar-shaped tower in the City – already one of the most photographed projects of all time – reaches structural completion this summer. This will be the finest addition to London's skyline for decades – and with the downturn in the commercial sector, it may be the last for a while.

Maggie's Centre, Dundee
Frank Gehry's first UK project – a tiny cancer care unit – opens in April. Eschewing the billowing titanium first used in the Bilbao Guggenheim, this gem has a rendered turret, plywood walls and a saw-tooth roof clad in stainless steel.

Graz
Austria's second city is this year's European City of Culture, and has commissioned a slew of projects – including an airport and a town hall – to celebrate. Highlights include Ben van Berkel's bulging glass "Mumuth" music hall, and the extraordinary art gallery by British duo Peter Cook and Colin Fournier, which looks like a giant blue internal organ.

World Trade Centre
Expect a shortlist of designers by the end of the month, but the arguments about this one will run and run. Ground zero will remain poignantly empty for some time yet.