The St. Louis Pruitt-Igoe housing projects were demolished in 1972 and 1973, an event marking the end of Modernism. ("Its vacancies, crime, safety concerns and physical deterioration were unsurpassed by any other public housing complex in the nation," according to sociologist Lee Rainwater. "Pruitt-Igoe condenses into one 57-acre tract all of the problems and difficulties that arise from race and poverty and all of the impotence, indifference and hostility with which our society has so far dealt with these problems.")
It's interesting to note that this failed piece of urban planning was designed by architects George Hellmuth (of HOK) and Minoru Yamasaki, the man who designed the World Trade Center towers, which met a similar fate.
6 comments:
wow! food for thought. i could barely imagine what life is/was like in that project. 57 acres!!! that's about the size of a ranch...
i have a hard enough time living in the same building as 19 other "units" in my co-op. i mean, granted, it's a co-op. but its mentality is that of a complex of in-law units, with only 3 major entrances/exits. not counting the basement/fire exits.
a housing project of that magnitude, in the u.s., is just a bad idea to begin with. and in st. louis, of all places! my friend evan surmises- "i don't think americans are fitted for communal living." he lived 1 year in beijing, 1 year in taipei, and travelled throughout taiwan and china.
(and he's white.)
incidentally, today, i found the best place to live in l.a.- a certain zone of multiple dwelling units. clean/low-density/affordable/reasonable/close to good grocery shopping.
where is this shangri-la you found? i can't fathom it!!
is the american aversion to communal anything out of the whole staunch individualism / private property / each man for himself / frontier, wide-open spaces thing? maybe the 'melting pot' business -- too much diversity makes it hard for communal life? america is structurally racist? am i just throwing out some half-truth cliches? what was evan talking about?
anyway, how outmoded IS this way of living? and why are you still in LA?!
haha... dammit!
let's put the S.F./L.A. dichotomy into these terms:
San Francisco Treat: A Wong Kar Wai Ego.
Los Angeles Death: A Wong Kar Wai Romanticism.
Ick. It's finally dawning on me that L.A.'s lack of an A-SI-AN film-theatre is PRE-POST-E-ROUS.
i think... (i begin too many conversations with this)...
"outmoded" is pejorative.
so, apparently i was shitting myself. no, there's no shangri-la. least of all in l.a.
on the other hand, tibet hosts solar energy!!!!!!!!!!!!
... common sense!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anyway, i'm not going to divulge what i shat, all onto your blog, of allll places! while it's wonderful that internet conversations breed thought patterns that are neglected in the common classroom, i don't think that i want to add to it, here & now. city planning involves a bit too much of virtual space. it's as if maps are planned by the people who brought you the lomo camera.
which is cool.
yes, i believe "america is structurally racist", too. but there are so many things (etymologically) wrong with that phrase:
1. america is a concept.
2. american consists of at least 2 physical continents.
3. "american racism" is not necessarily equal to "american" racism or american "racism".
4. "american infrastructure"
(UGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)
is not, simply put, "american". eh?
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