Pruitt Igoe Now
Filling the Void
DELIA RIVERA
3/16/2012
The demise of Pruitt-Igoe is a moment in architectural history that illustrates the ability of public housing projects to become segregation tools. We first learned about Pruitt-Igoe in an introductory design course in 2009. The iconic image of one of the buildings’ implosion struck us and we could not help but feel an ominous sense. After recently watching The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, we got an inside look at the experiences of the people that once called Pruitt-Igoe home. It put the image of the implosion into an intimate perspective and gave us a backstory. It was quite touching and spurred an interest in us to re-imagine what the site and its surroundings could become.
During our site analysis, we found that the building density around the site was very low. With many small brownfield plots of land surrounding the large brownfield forest, we decided to limit new building to the small brownfield plots and to leave the brownfield forest relatively untouched, with only five clearings to allow for picnic area gathering and social interaction. The new buildings are placed adjacent to existing buildings, some of which are abandoned. These are to be restored and subject to adaptive reuse to provide housing for young professionals, students, and small families on the upper levels and urban amenities, such as restaurants, shops, and art galleries on the ground level.
Through the reuse of brownfield plots and abandoned buildings, we hope to reinvigorate the area surrounding the Pruitt-Igoe site and activate the site itself by first drawing people to the general vicinity. Once this happens, the Pruitt-Igoe site can breathe new life and organically become a type of urban living room for the people of St. Louis to gather and interact.
Juan Gelez & Delia Rivera
Filling the Void
DELIA RIVERA
3/16/2012
The demise of Pruitt-Igoe is a moment in architectural history that illustrates the ability of public housing projects to become segregation tools. We first learned about Pruitt-Igoe in an introductory design course in 2009. The iconic image of one of the buildings’ implosion struck us and we could not help but feel an ominous sense. After recently watching The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, we got an inside look at the experiences of the people that once called Pruitt-Igoe home. It put the image of the implosion into an intimate perspective and gave us a backstory. It was quite touching and spurred an interest in us to re-imagine what the site and its surroundings could become.
During our site analysis, we found that the building density around the site was very low. With many small brownfield plots of land surrounding the large brownfield forest, we decided to limit new building to the small brownfield plots and to leave the brownfield forest relatively untouched, with only five clearings to allow for picnic area gathering and social interaction. The new buildings are placed adjacent to existing buildings, some of which are abandoned. These are to be restored and subject to adaptive reuse to provide housing for young professionals, students, and small families on the upper levels and urban amenities, such as restaurants, shops, and art galleries on the ground level.
Through the reuse of brownfield plots and abandoned buildings, we hope to reinvigorate the area surrounding the Pruitt-Igoe site and activate the site itself by first drawing people to the general vicinity. Once this happens, the Pruitt-Igoe site can breathe new life and organically become a type of urban living room for the people of St. Louis to gather and interact.
Juan Gelez & Delia Rivera