Pruitt Igoe Now
Void with Humanity
JESSICA FLOREZ
3/16/2012
A Void with Humanity is a mixed-used, mixed-income project proposed for the site that was previously home to the Pruitt Igoe (PI) public housing complex. Void focuses on addressing three of the problems that led to the gradual deterioration and ultimate demolition of PI: Lack of Language, Territory, and Respect for Life.
When poverty is seen as immoral and housing as the only solution to such complex problem, low-income individuals are treated as “projects” requiring isolation and control. Stripped of a sense of ownership, residents lack the tools of individual expression found in communal activities, which combined with discomfort often leads to violence against oppressive norms.
The only way to redeem PI’s haunted, contested site is not by ignoring its past, or by indulging in nostalgia, but by building a future full of that which was present, yet not always given expression, at PI: Humanity.
Void, a public park surrounded by live-workshop residences, is injected with activities reflective of three particular tensions characteristic of the human condition: Sacred/Mundane, Past/Future, Individual reflection/Collective expression. They are found throughout a metaphorical journey that starts with a Cultural Heritage Center, continues through a local marketplace, past interactive canvases, and ends with an Invention Park facing the Missouri river.
The Cultural Heritage Center is accessed from the roof through stairs shaped as a clock marking the time the last PI’s building was demolished. It includes historical exhibits, a public library, and community spaces.
The Marketplace encourages residents to make use of communal kitchens, workshops, and vendor carts to produce/exchange goods and services. Interactive canvases placed throughout the walk invite citizen expression.
The Invention Park is a ribbon-shaped roof that points towards the sky, celebrating the sacredness of life while sheltering spaces outfitted to promote inventiveness, knowledge, and reflection.
Void with Humanity
JESSICA FLOREZ
3/16/2012
A Void with Humanity is a mixed-used, mixed-income project proposed for the site that was previously home to the Pruitt Igoe (PI) public housing complex. Void focuses on addressing three of the problems that led to the gradual deterioration and ultimate demolition of PI: Lack of Language, Territory, and Respect for Life.
When poverty is seen as immoral and housing as the only solution to such complex problem, low-income individuals are treated as “projects” requiring isolation and control. Stripped of a sense of ownership, residents lack the tools of individual expression found in communal activities, which combined with discomfort often leads to violence against oppressive norms.
The only way to redeem PI’s haunted, contested site is not by ignoring its past, or by indulging in nostalgia, but by building a future full of that which was present, yet not always given expression, at PI: Humanity.
Void, a public park surrounded by live-workshop residences, is injected with activities reflective of three particular tensions characteristic of the human condition: Sacred/Mundane, Past/Future, Individual reflection/Collective expression. They are found throughout a metaphorical journey that starts with a Cultural Heritage Center, continues through a local marketplace, past interactive canvases, and ends with an Invention Park facing the Missouri river.
The Cultural Heritage Center is accessed from the roof through stairs shaped as a clock marking the time the last PI’s building was demolished. It includes historical exhibits, a public library, and community spaces.
The Marketplace encourages residents to make use of communal kitchens, workshops, and vendor carts to produce/exchange goods and services. Interactive canvases placed throughout the walk invite citizen expression.
The Invention Park is a ribbon-shaped roof that points towards the sky, celebrating the sacredness of life while sheltering spaces outfitted to promote inventiveness, knowledge, and reflection.