Pruitt–Igoe

Pruitt Igoe - was a failed project of social housing in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, that existed from 1955 until the mid-1970s. The plant, with its approximately 2,800 apartments on the outskirts of the city had been built in the wake of large-scale site remediation and should improve the living conditions of poor families in the area. Initially hailed as a " pioneering project of urban renewal and poverty reduction ", the occupancy rate fell off rapidly within a few years. The large vacancy acted as breeding grounds for vandalism and made the maintenance of the buildings from them, which eventually led to the medial acclaimed demolition of the settlement.

Pruitt Igoe - is often used in the U.S. as an example of failures in social housing and urban regeneration. Most Comments this fall " tendentious, pointed and politically " and make planning errors, construction defects and unattractive living environment responsible for the failure.

History

Since 1947 the City of St. Louis was planning the construction of run-down residential area DeSoto -Carr as part of a site remediation. First, it rejected the population aged in a referendum for spending public money. Through the National Housing Act of 1949, however, funds from the U.S. government for such projects were available. The participation of the federal government, however, brought it with that for cost reasons, the population density has been increased several times. The large housing estate was finally in 1951 (later the architect of the World Trade Center ) designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki and named after the African-American fighter pilots of World War II Wendell O. Pruitt and the white William L. Igoe, a former congressman. This explains the fact that the complex should be divided into two divisions, namely Pruitt Igoe for African-American and white residents for. However, the construction phase was the award of the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which declared racial segregation policy illegal. Because of this, an integrative settlement approach was followed in Erstbeziehung in the same year - it turned out, however, that within two years moved away the white inhabitants of Pruitt - Igoe.

The large housing estate consisted of 33 eleven-story buildings on a 23 acre site on the northern edge of St. Louis. The next compounds were in the north of the Cass Avenue, in the West N. Jefferson Avenue, south of MLK Drive and east of N. 20th Street. Overall, the settlement consisted of 2,870 apartments, which were built in five years. Within a few years the area was then increasingly vandalized, which today is frequently cited as evidence of the broken windows theory. Large parts of Pruitt - Igoe remained uninhabited, and after several unsuccessful attempts by the city to improve the settlement, ultimately, the demolition was decided, which began on 16 March 1972.

The criticism is that the takeover of the settlement scheme from New York City just could not work alone because of the great social and economic differences. The architect Yamasaki example, was alleged to have built playgrounds only on the basis of citizens' initiatives of the inhabitants; also basic social infrastructure to have been first created or encouraged by the citizens themselves. Another stand-out example of the non-aligned to the needs of the residents were planning the elevators: they held only every third floor to force the residents to meet each other in the stairwells and maintain neighborly relations.

Today is located on the grounds of the Gateway Junior High School, which plays an important role in the promotion of science in the public schools of St. Louis.

Controversy surrounding the project

The reasons for the failure of Pruitt - Igoe are controversial, because similar housing projects in other cities were successful. In the discussion often play also ethnic and socio-cultural preconceptions play a role, although it is unclear whether the arguments to the particular urban culture of St. Louis, and adapt their policy environment. A study by the Harvard University for public housing is specifically addressed Pruitt - Igoe.

During the presidency of Richard Nixon, the ratios were politically exploited and taken as evidence that interference by the government is fundamentally harmful to the urban renewal - ultimately made ​​it easier for cuts in programs then only alleged equality of social classes. The Pruitt - Igoe was demolished by the U.S. media, special attention, and he is now considered anti - mask part of popular culture. The postmodern architect Charles Jencks noted that the demolition marked that day, as the post-war modernism ended ( " the day Modern architecture died. " ) Comprehensive footage of the demolition was processed in the film Koyaanisqatsi by Godfrey Reggio.

Pictures

Destroyed window Pruitt - Igoe in after the task

Carr Square, Pruitt - Igoe immediate neighborhood of

Concept drawing of community facilities of the residential complex