Arts 2000: out with the old, in with the new

A "NEW" CRYSTAL PALACE

Cost: pounds 60m

Architects: The Richard Rogers Partnership

Presently: The South Bank - the Royal Festival Hall, the Hayward Gallery, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room, with a grim passageway connecting it all to the north bank.

By 2000: A South Bank Centre, or in other words, the current attractions covered over by an "undulating outer skin". Bookshops, a video library, bars, cafes and restaurants to be thrown in, with a new bridge link to Waterloo Station planned.

The buzz: "Too elitist, too London-based" (Verity Lambert, TV producer).

BRITISH MUSEUM GREAT COURT

Cost: pounds 60m

Architect: Sir Norman Foster

Presently: The Great Court, recently vacated by the departure of the British Library to St Pancras.

By 2000: A revived public square, with new public galleries, expanded retail and catering areas, and a Centre for Education.

The buzz: "A great opportunity to rediscover this unbelievable space" (Norman Foster).

CARDIFF BAY OPERA HOUSE

Cost: Anywhere between pounds 43m and pounds 87m

Architect: Zaha Hadid (right)

Presently: Plain old Cardiff Bay, earmarked for a pounds 1bn redevelopment.

By 2000: A permanent home for the Welsh National Opera, part of an eight- mile stretch of commerce and culture. Jonathan Glancey describes the design as "a fairy-tale opera house".

The buzz: Ms Hadid, the victim of fierce public opposition to her avant- garde ideas, denounced the resultant architectural squabble as "farcical". Rhodri Morgan, MP for Cardiff West, claimed the design was potentially "blasphemous" on the grounds of it being "identical to the shrine at Mecca".

BANKSIDE Cost: pounds 100m

Architect: Herzog and De Meuron

Presently: A disused power station

By 2000: The Tate Museum of Modern Art - a permanent showcase for the Tate's large collection of paintings and sculpture.