What was the purpose of Pruitt Igoe?

Asked by: Megan Fox

Placing Pruitt-Igoe in Context Instead, The Pruitt-Igoe Myth argues that factors such as structural changes occurring in St. Louis, public welfare policies, racial segregation, and flawed assumptions made by the project’s planners better explain what happened.

Who designed the Pruitt Igoe?

Minoru Yamasaki

The Wendell O. Pruitt Homes and William Igoe Apartments, known together as Pruitt–Igoe (/ˈpruɪt ˈaɪɡoʊ/), were joint urban housing projects first occupied in 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The complex consisted of 33 eleven-story high rises, designed in the modernist architectural style by Minoru Yamasaki.

Where was Pruitt Igoe located in St Louis?

The Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project was located in the predominantly African American and economically depressed Desoto-Carr neighborhood just north-west of downtown St Louis, Missouri.

Why was Igoe constructed?

Pruitt-Igoe was originally intended to be two separately located public housing projects: one for white residents and one for black residents. When the location for the white development fell through, the city planned to build segregated complexes on the same plot.

What law enabled the construction of Pruitt-Igoe?

The design, drawn up when Missouri law still mandated the segregation of public facilities, originally designated the Pruitt half of the complex (named after second world war fighter pilot Wendell O Pruitt) for black residents only, and the Igoe half (after former US Congressman William L Igoe) as white only.

Who owns the Pruitt-Igoe site?

20th and Cass LLC

The site is owned by 20th and Cass LLC, tied to McKee’s companies, which exercised an option with the city to purchase the site in 2016. The site was the location of the troubled Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex, which was demolished in the 1970s.

What did the Housing Act of 1949 do?

The Housing Act of 1949 was passed to help address the decline of urban housing following the exodus to the suburbs. The legislation provided governance over how federal financial resources would shape the growth of American cities.

Why did people move from the south to St Louis?

In the early part of the century, many African Americans migrated from the South to the city for industrial jobs, as part of the Great Migration. St. Louis did not escape the Great Depression and its high unemployment. During World War II the city hosted war industries that employed thousands of workers.

Why was Robin Hood Gardens demolished?

This ministerial decision endorsed the recommendation of English Heritage that Robin Hood Gardens “fails as a place for human beings to live” and did not deserve statutory heritage protection, leaving the way open for Tower Hamlets Council to proceed with its demolition and redevelopment.

What event marks the death of modern architecture?

But 16 years later in 1972, the first 3 buildings within Pruitt-Igoe were demolished. And in 1977, architectural historian Charles Jencks proclaimed that the day Pruitt-Igoe was demolished was the day that modern architecture had officially died.

What did modern architecture reject?

Modernists rejected both classical and vernacular aesthetics. Both were seen as superfluous decorations on a machine. In this way they rejected culture and context as having any importance in design.

Who started modernism architecture?

Modernism first emerged in the early twentieth century, and by the 1920s, the prominent figures of the movement – Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe – had established their reputations.

Who founded modernism?

Modernism in the visual arts and architecture. In the visual arts the roots of Modernism are often traced back to painter Édouard Manet, who, beginning in the 1860s, not only depicted scenes of modern life but also broke with tradition when he made no attempt to mimic the real world by way of perspective and modeling.

What is the purpose of modernism?

Modernism was essentially based on a utopian vision of human life and society and a belief in progress, or moving forward. It assumed that certain ultimate universal principles or truths such as those formulated by religion or science could be used to understand or explain reality.

Are we still in the postmodern era?

Since the late 1990s there has been a small but growing feeling both in popular culture and in academia that postmodernism “has gone out of fashion.” However, there have been few formal attempts to define and name the era succeeding postmodernism, and none of the proposed designations has yet become part of mainstream …