Pruitt-Igoe
Encyclopedia
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
housing project first occupied in 1954 in the U.S. city of St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. Living conditions in Pruitt–Igoe began to decline soon after its completion in 1956; by the late 1960s, the complex had become internationally infamous for its poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
, and segregation
Segregation
Segregation or segregate refers to setting apart or separating things or people and may refer to:* Particle segregation* Segregation in materials* Magnetic-activated cell sorting* Segregate * Mendel's law of segregation...
. Its 33 buildings were torn down in the mid-1970s, and the project has become an icon of urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
and public-policy planning failure.
The complex was designed by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Minoru Yamasaki
Minoru Yamasaki
was a Japanese-American architect, best known for his design of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, buildings 1 and 2. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century...
, who also designed the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
towers and the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is a Class B international airport serving Greater St. Louis. It is located approximately northwest of downtown St. Louis in unincorporated St. Louis County between Berkeley and Bridgeton. It is the largest and busiest airport in the state with 250 daily...
main terminal.
Background
During the 1940s and 1950s, the city of St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
was "a very crowded place"; "in almost a classic sense it looked and felt like a 'real' big city ... like something out of a Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
novel". Its housing stock deteriorated through the interbellum decades and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. More than 85,000 families lived in 19th century tenement
Tenement
A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...
s; a 1947 official survey found that 33,000 homes had communal toilets. Middle-class, predominantly white, residents were leaving the city
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
, and their former residences were occupied by low-income families. Black (north) and white (south) slums of the old city were segregated and expanding, threatening to engulf the city center. To save central properties from an imminent loss of value, city authorities settled on redevelopment of the "inner ring" around the central business district. Decay was so profound there that gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
of existing real estate was considered impractical.
In 1947, Saint Louis planners proposed to replace DeSoto-Carr, a run-down black neighborhood, with new two- and three-story residential blocks and a public park. The plan did not materialize; instead, Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
mayor Joseph Darst
Joseph Darst
Joseph M. Darst was the thirty-seventh Mayor of St. Louis, serving from 1949 to 1953....
, elected in 1949, and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
state leaders favored clearing the slums and replacing them with high-rise, high-density public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
. They reasoned that the new projects would help the city through increased revenues, new parks, playgrounds and shopping space.
We must rebuild, open up and clean up the hearts of our cities. The fact that slums were created with all the intrinsic evils was everybody's fault. Now it is everybody's responsibility to repair the damage.
Joseph DarstJoseph DarstJoseph M. Darst was the thirty-seventh Mayor of St. Louis, serving from 1949 to 1953....
, 1951
In 1948, voters rejected the proposal for a municipal loan
Loan
A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
to finance the change, but soon the situation was changed with the Housing Act of 1949
Housing Act of 1949
The American Housing Act of 1949 was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing...
and Missouri state laws that provided co-financing of public housing projects. The approach taken by Darst, urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
, was shared by the Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
administration and fellow mayors of other cities overwhelmed by industrial workers recruited during the war. Specifically, St. Louis Land Clearance and Redevelopment Authority was authorized to acquire and demolish the slums of the inner ring and then sell the land at reduced prices to private developers, fostering middle-class return and business growth. Another agency, St. Louis Housing Authority, had to clear land to construct public housing for the former slum dwellers.
By 1950, St. Louis had received a federal commitment to finance 5,800 public housing units. The first large public housing in St. Louis, Cochran Gardens
Cochran Gardens
Cochran Gardens was a public housing complex on the near north side of downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Constructed in 1952 and occupied until 2006, it was famous for its residents' innovative form of tenant-led management. In 1976, Cochran Gardens became one of the first U.S...
, was completed in 1953 and intended for low-income whites. It contained 704 units in 12 high-rise buildings and was followed by Pruitt–Igoe, Darst-Webbe and Vaughan. Pruit-Igoe was intended for young middle-class white and black tenants, segregated into different buildings, Darst-Webbe for low-income white tenants. Missouri public housing remained racially segregated
Residential Segregation
Residential segregation is the physical separation of cultural groups based on residence and housing, or a form of segregation that "sorts population groups into various neighborhood contexts and shapes the living environment at the neighborhood level."...
until 1956.
Design and construction
Wendell O. Pruitt
Wendell Oliver Pruitt was a pioneering African-American military pilot and Tuskegee Airman originally from St. Louis, Missouri. He was killed during a training exercise in 1945. After his death, his name, along with William L. Igoe's was given to the notorious Pruitt–Igoe public housing complex...
, an African-American fighter pilot in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and William L. Igoe
William L. Igoe
William Leo Igoe was a United States Representative from Missouri. He attended the public and parochial schools of St. Louis and graduated from the law school of Washington University in St. Louis in 1902. He was admitted to the bar in the same year and commenced the practice of law in St. Louis....
, a former U.S. Congressman. Originally, the city planned two partitions: Captain W. O. Pruitt Homes for the black residents, and William L. Igoe Apartments for whites. The site was bounded by Cass Avenue on the north, North Jefferson Avenue on the west, Carr Street on the south, and North 20th Street on the east.
The project was designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki
Minoru Yamasaki
was a Japanese-American architect, best known for his design of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, buildings 1 and 2. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century...
who would later design New York's World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
. It was Yamasaki's first large independent job, performed under supervision and constraints imposed by the federal Public Housing Authority. The initial proposal provided a mix of high-rise, mid-rise and walk-up buildings. It was acceptable to St. Louis authorities, but exceeded the federal cost limits imposed by the PHA; the agency intervened and imposed a uniform building height at 11 floors. Shortages of materials caused by the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and tensions in the Congress further tightened PHA controls.
In 1951, Architectural Forum
Architectural Forum
Architectural Forum was an American magazine that covered the home-building industry and architecture. Started in 1892, it absorbed the magazine Architect's world in October 1938, and ceased publication in 1974.-Other titles:...
praised Yamasaki's original proposal as "the best high apartment" of the year. Overall density was set at a moderate level of 50 units per acre (higher than in downtown slums), yet, according to the planning principles of Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
and the International Congresses of Modern Architects
Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne
The Congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne – CIAM was an organization founded in 1928 and disbanded in 1959, responsible for a series of events and congresses arranged around the world by the most prominent architects of the time, with the objective of spreading the principles of the Modern...
, residents were raised up to 11 floors above ground in an attempt to save the grounds and ground floor space for communal activity. Architectural Forum praised the layout as "vertical neighborhoods for poor people". Each row of buildings was supposed to be flanked by a "river of trees", developing a Harland Bartholomew
Harland Bartholomew
Harland Bartholomew was an American urban planner. Although a civil engineer by training and disposition, Harland's career started just as the automobile production was about to take off, industrial development was booming and urban populations grew...
concept. However, parking and recreation facilities were inadequate; playgrounds were added only after tenants petitioned for their installation.
Skip-stop
Skip-stop is a public transit service pattern which reduces travel times and increases capacity by not having all vehicles make all designated stops along a route. Skip-stops are used in both rail transit and bus transit operations.-Rail operation:...
" elevators stopped only at the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth floors, forcing residents to use stairs in an attempt to lessen congestion. The same "anchor floors" were equipped with large communal corridors, laundry rooms, communal rooms and garbage chutes. The stairwells and corridors attracted muggers. Ventilation was poor, centralized air conditioning nonexistent.
Despite federal cost-cutting regulations, Pruitt–Igoe initially cost $36 million, 60% above national average for public housing. Conservatives attributed cost overruns to inflated unionized labor wages
Union wage premium
A union wage premium refers to the degree in which union wages exceed non-union member wages. Union wage premiums are one of the most researched and analyzed issues in economics especially in labor economics. Unions and their struggle for wages and better benefits usually target larger firms that...
and the steamfitters union
United Association
The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing, Pipefitting and Sprinkler Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, commonly known as the United Association is a trade union of journeymen and apprentices of the plumbing, pipefitting, and sprinkler fitting industry of...
influence that led to installation of an expensive heating system; overruns on the heating system caused a chain of arbitrary cost cuts in other vital parts of the building.
Nevertheless, Pruitt–Igoe was initially seen as a breakthrough in urban renewal. Despite poor build quality, material suppliers cited Pruitt–Igoe in their advertisements, capitalizing on the national exposure of the project.
Decay
The buildings remained largely vacant for years, although sources on exact depopulation rate differ: according to Newman, occupancy never rose above 60%; according to Ramroth, vacancy rose to one-third capacity by 1965. All authors agree that by the end of the 1960s, Pruitt–Igoe was nearly abandoned and had deteriorated into a decaying, dangerous, crime-infested neighborhood; its architect lamented: "I never thought people were that destructive". In 1971, Pruitt–Igoe housed only six hundred people in seventeen buildings; the other sixteen were boarded up. Meanwhile, adjacent Carr Village, a low-rise area with a similar demographic makeup, remained fully occupied and trouble-free throughout the construction, occupancy and decline of Pruitt–Igoe.
Despite decay of the public areas and gang violence, Pruitt–Igoe contained isolated pockets of relative well-being throughout its worst years. Apartments clustered around small, two-family landings with tenants working to maintain and clear their common areas were often relatively successful. When corridors were shared by 20 families and staircases by hundreds, public spaces immediately fell into disrepair. When the number of residents per public space rose above a certain level, none would identify with these "no man's land[s]" – places where it was "impossible to feel ... to tell resident from intruder". The inhabitants of Pruitt–Igoe organized an active tenant association, bringing about community enterprises. One such example was the creation of craft rooms; these rooms allowed the women of the Pruitt–Igoe to congregate, socialize, and create ornaments, quilts, and statues for sale.
Demolition
In 1968, the federal Department of HousingUnited States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
began encouraging the remaining residents to leave Pruitt–Igoe. In December 1971, state and federal authorities agreed to demolish two of the Pruitt–Igoe buildings. They hoped that a gradual reduction in population and building density could improve the situation; by this time, Pruitt–Igoe had consumed $57 million, an investment that could not be abandoned at once. Authorities considered different scenarios to rehabilitate Pruitt–Igoe, including conversion to a low-rise neighborhood by cutting the towers down to four floors and undertaking a "horizontal" reorganization of their layout.
After months of preparation, the first building was demolished with an implosion
Building implosion
In the controlled demolition industry, building implosion is the strategic placing of explosive material and timing of its detonation so that a structure collapses on itself in a matter of seconds, minimizing the physical damage to its immediate surroundings...
at 3 p.m., on March 16, 1972. The second one went down April 22, 1972. After more implosions on July 15, the first stage of demolition was over; according to Charles Jencks
Charles Jencks
Charles Alexander Jencks is an American architectural theorist, landscape architect and designer. His books on the history and criticism of Modernism and Postmodernism were widely read in architectural circles and beyond....
, it was the day that "Modern Architecture
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
died." As the government scrapped rehabilitation plans, the rest of the Pruitt–Igoe blocks were imploded during the following three years; and the site was finally cleared in 1976 with the demolition of the last block.
Today, the site of the former projects is partially used as the site for Gateway Middle School
St. Louis Public Schools
St. Louis Public Schools is the school district that operates public schools in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. With a 2005 enrollment of approximately 33,000 students it is the largest public school district in the state of Missouri. Its headquarters is in Downtown St...
and Gateway Elementary School
St. Louis Public Schools
St. Louis Public Schools is the school district that operates public schools in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. With a 2005 enrollment of approximately 33,000 students it is the largest public school district in the state of Missouri. Its headquarters is in Downtown St...
, combined magnet schools based in science and technology, as well as Pruitt Military Academy, a military-themed magnet middle school. All schools are within the St. Louis Public School district. The rest is planted with trees. The former DeSoto-Carr slums around the Pruitt–Igoe have also been torn down and replaced with low-density, single-family housing.
Footage of the demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
of Pruitt–Igoe was incorporated into the film Koyaanisqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi also known as Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, is a 1982 film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke....
.
Legacy and misconceptions
Explanations for the failure of Pruitt–Igoe are complex. Typically, it is presented as a purely architectural failure; other critics bring in social factors like economic decline of St. Louis, white flightWhite flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
into suburbs, lack of tenants who were employed, and politicized local opposition to government housing projects also played a role in the project's decline. Pruitt–Igoe has become a frequently used textbook case in architecture, sociology and politics, "a truism of the environment and behavior literature", to the point where the story of Pruitt–Igoe evolves as a self-sustaining myth shrouded in misconceptions.
Pruitt–Igoe is frequently presented as an award-winning design; however, it had never won any professional awards other than a magazine "best of the year" entry cited above. An earlier St. Louis project by the same architects, Cochran Gardens, did receive two awards. Katherine G. Bristol argues that this voluntary error by critics was part of a general drive to blame failures of public housing onto the International style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
school, allegedly insensitive to real-world society, and the re-evaluation of modernism of the 1970s.
The city of modern architecture, both as a psychological construct and a physical model, has been rendered tragically ridiculous... the city of Le Corbusier, the city celebrated by CIAMCongrès International d'Architecture ModerneThe Congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne – CIAM was an organization founded in 1928 and disbanded in 1959, responsible for a series of events and congresses arranged around the world by the most prominent architects of the time, with the objective of spreading the principles of the Modern...
and advertised by the Athens CharterAthens CharterThe Athens Charter, or Charte d'Athènes was a document about urban planning published by the Swiss architect, Le Corbusier in 1943. The work was based upon Le Corbusier’s Ville Radieuse book of 1935 and urban studies undertaken by the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne in the early...
, the former city of deliverance is everyday found increasingly inadequate
The Pruitt–Igoe housing project was one of the first demolitions of modernist architecture; postmodern architectural historian Charles Jencks
Charles Jencks
Charles Alexander Jencks is an American architectural theorist, landscape architect and designer. His books on the history and criticism of Modernism and Postmodernism were widely read in architectural circles and beyond....
called its destruction "the day Modern architecture
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
died."
Jencks, one of the critics who referred to the project's non-existent awards, used Pruitt–Igoe as an example of modernists' hazardous intentions running contrary to real-world social development. Jensks largely disregards the fact that location, population density, cost constraints, and even specific number of floors were imposed by the federal and state authorities. However, these very authorities were arguably acting according to modernist doctrine.
See also
- Cabrini–Green, in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, USA - Robert Taylor HomesRobert Taylor HomesRobert Taylor Homes was a housing project in the Bronzeville neighborhood of the South Side of Chicago, on State Street between Pershing Road and 54th Street alongside the Dan Ryan Expressway.-History:...
, in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, USA - Regent ParkRegent ParkRegent Park is a neighbourhood located in Old Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Regent Park is Canada's oldest and largest social housing project; built in the late 1940s. Formerly the centre of the Cabbagetown neighbourhood, it is bounded by Gerrard Street East to the north, River Street to the east,...
, in TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... - St. James Town, in TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... - Lees AvenueLees AvenueLees Avenue is both a road and a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Canada. The area lies in the narrow stretch between the Rideau Canal and Rideau River south of Sandy Hill and the Queensway and is part of Old Ottawa East. The neighbourhood is dominated by five large apartment buildings, some of the...
, in OttawaOttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... - Ballymun FlatsBallymun FlatsThe Ballymun Flats refers to a number of flats - and often the tower block complex - in Ballymun, Dublin which is currently undergoing demolition.-History:...
, in Dublin, IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth... - Red Road (flats)Red Road (flats)The Red Road Flats are a high-rise housing complex which lies between the districts of Balornock and Barmulloch in the north east of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It consists of eight multi-storey blocks. Two are "slabs", much wider in cross-section than they are deep. Six are "points" — more of a...
, in GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... - Aylesbury EstateAylesbury EstateThe Aylesbury Estate is a large housing estate located in Walworth, South East London.Along with the Ferrier Estate, Aylesbury is considered the most notorious estate in the United Kingdom. It was for this reason that Tony Blair chose to make his first speech as Prime Minister here, in an effort to...
, in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England - BijlmermeerBijlmermeerThe Bijlmermeer or colloquially Bijlmer is one of the neighbourhoods that form the Amsterdam Zuidoost borough of Amsterdam, Netherlands. To many people, the Bijlmer designation is used to refer to Amsterdam Zuidoost and Diemen Zuid as a pars pro toto...
, in AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... - Cidade de DeusCidade de Deus (Rio de Janeiro)The neighbourhood of Cidade de Deus is part of the borough of Jacarepaguá, in the Western Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is also known as CDD among their inhabitants....
, in Rio de JaneiroRio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... - Panel house, in various former communist countries
- Tower in a park – Le CorbusierLe CorbusierCharles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
's modernist scheme for urban development
Further reading
- Chuck Palahniuk, "Confessions in Stone" in Stranger than Fiction. (New York: Doubleday, 2004)., chapter 4 Escape to Islip
External links
- The Pruitt-Igoe Myth: An Urban History (2011 documentary)