Pruitt Igoe Now
Gateway
JOHN TUTHILL
3/16/2012
When I first saw the Pruitt Igoe Now competition, I was immediately intrigued by the history of the site—a project meant to better the lives of many ended up in ruin and blight. My late grandfather was born and raised in St. Louis and frequently talked about the grandeur of the city, thus restoring pride to the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods became paramount to the project. I have worked with urban renewal projects before in different hypothetical contexts, namely bettering an already affluent area, and enjoy knowing that my work could theoretically improve the lives of many. The community deserves what Pruitt Igoe strove to do in the past: bring a modern air to an aging neighborhood that creates new and better opportunities. The proposal focuses on converting the site to a large open park with sports courts, community gardens, meeting spaces for local chapters, and other amenities aimed to reinvigorate the locale.
The design process began with analyzing past examples of Urban Renewal with each following a similar progression. While this progression did revitalize defunct regions of cities, certain unsavory factors and byproducts existed. Each surveyed city depended heavily on corporate investors to fund much of the redevelopment, turning the land into a profitable commodity rather than neighborhood community. Consequently property values dramatically rose and the revitalization resulted in gentrification. The focus of traditional urban renewal appears to be purely economic despite any claims to be working for the benefit of the community’s citizens. The intent of this project is to counter this trend, focusing on helping the community rather than economic viability. Money raised would come from civic initiatives—empowerment zone credits, neighborhood improvement districts, and St. Louis property tax abatement—leaving the power in the community to the residents, rather than corporate sponsors.
Gateway
JOHN TUTHILL
3/16/2012
When I first saw the Pruitt Igoe Now competition, I was immediately intrigued by the history of the site—a project meant to better the lives of many ended up in ruin and blight. My late grandfather was born and raised in St. Louis and frequently talked about the grandeur of the city, thus restoring pride to the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods became paramount to the project. I have worked with urban renewal projects before in different hypothetical contexts, namely bettering an already affluent area, and enjoy knowing that my work could theoretically improve the lives of many. The community deserves what Pruitt Igoe strove to do in the past: bring a modern air to an aging neighborhood that creates new and better opportunities. The proposal focuses on converting the site to a large open park with sports courts, community gardens, meeting spaces for local chapters, and other amenities aimed to reinvigorate the locale.
The design process began with analyzing past examples of Urban Renewal with each following a similar progression. While this progression did revitalize defunct regions of cities, certain unsavory factors and byproducts existed. Each surveyed city depended heavily on corporate investors to fund much of the redevelopment, turning the land into a profitable commodity rather than neighborhood community. Consequently property values dramatically rose and the revitalization resulted in gentrification. The focus of traditional urban renewal appears to be purely economic despite any claims to be working for the benefit of the community’s citizens. The intent of this project is to counter this trend, focusing on helping the community rather than economic viability. Money raised would come from civic initiatives—empowerment zone credits, neighborhood improvement districts, and St. Louis property tax abatement—leaving the power in the community to the residents, rather than corporate sponsors.