I really enjoyed this blog post, as I studied the Pruitt-Igoe myth last year in urban geography with Professor Kim. Pruitt-Igoe was one of several large housing projects that was meant to limit ghetto expansion in the central city while also providing high-density living for roughly 15,000 tenants. The main goal of projects such as Pruitt-Igoe was to provide affordable city housing with low rents, while also implementing international style design features. Ski-stop elevators and glazed internal galleries were the most problematic features that were incorporated into the design of Pruitt-Igoe as they were areas prone for attack and crime against tenants.
Once the complex was completed, it exclusively became a black project and was esteemed as having better amenities than previous living situations. This is an explicit result of how housing complexes are built with underlying purposes in mind. Compared to housing complexes that are built in gentrified neighborhoods, there was a clear lack of amenities and services for the residents of Pruitt-Igoe. The myth of Pruitt-Igoe first began after numerous articles were published as a result of the first demolition of the housing complexes in 1972. The authors moved from critiquing the overall design of the complex and began to criticize the overall meaning behind the design. Overall, Pruitt-Igoe failed not due to its design or the habitants of the complexes, but because of the power architects held at the time regarding social reform through building construction.
This myth is an important lesson in the development of government subsidized housing and how the reason behind why buildings are completed is just as important as the complex itself.
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