Pruitt-Igoe Sequence - "Trouble in Utopia" - Narrated by Robert Hughes [1981]

the Pruitt-Igoe sequence from the episode "Trouble in Utopia" from the series "The Shock of the New". Narrated by Robert Hughes. (1981)

Descripion of episode:
Trouble in Utopia - Episode 4
How modern architects in the wake of the Bauhaus aspired to change societies with their designs, a move represented both by Le Corbusier and the plans for the city Brasilia.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Pruitt-Igoe
• pruittigoe
• RobertHughes
• modernism
• architecture
• housing
• utopia
• urbanplanning
• explosion
• demolition

[jkrdsr]

Historical lesson: Don't build a palace to house the poor.

[jjjjjjjijjjjjjj]

There are historical lessons here; but they're quite a bit more nuanced and complicated than this one statement. I'm sure you'll agree.

[KidRandomm]

I was googling twin towers which led me to wiki article about yamasaki and there was a bit about pruitt igoe where it said that after 20 yrs it was demolished. For some reason I find abandoned/decaying/destroyed architecture fascinating.

[TiberFoaming]

@jkrdsr

The buildings were finished in 1955. Well, pack them till the roof wit the poorest korean war refugees. Do you think the results would had been the same?

No one "nice" and "polite" will tell you this in public, depending on the circumstances maybe not even me, but that doesnt make it the least bit less true:

From London to Los Angeles, from Zimbabwe to Detroit. Wherever blacks are, every aspect of civilized life will be worse.

[knightschwartz]

I hate this artecture. Build buildings like they did in the 1890's.

[msalimon]

People take loads of sxxxt from priests, politicians and speculators but decide to be intolerant with the architects.

[fly4vino]

A rather strange comment as so much of the country has two and three story walkup buildings constructed before handicap regulations were implemented. Tens of millions of people walk up one or two flights of stairs to their homes and offices every day.

Elevators are much more efficient where the number of stops are minimized. It was also a very common practice in parking garages. However, the users did not feel compelled to kill, rob and rape their co-users as they did at PI.

[litlgrey]

"Major structural alterations were called for." That's the most classic use of British understatement I have come across in years.

[sbal0909]

While it's hard to disregard the rampant apathy and crime that plagued these towers. It's also worth noting that when people have no personal incentive to maintain the upkeep of a place; the place eventually degrades. Ownership over anything stimulates long term concern and care.

[juxtn]

@jkrdsr I think the problem was they built too large in the 1950s thinking the population of the city would keep growing and growing rather the people headed out of the city instead. The buildings remained largely unoccupied and it was planned that maintenance costs would be covered by rents. So i think a large part of the problem of the apartments were not the residents, but outside crime breaking into the buildings. The buildings were mostly inhabited by single mothers and children.

[jessemedic]

Continued. People threw tv's and other things out the windows at police. Look at some footage from the 60's. The Pruitt Igoe project was known nationally as one of the worst places to live. I work in North St. Louis, and see the lot where the project was. It's now an overgrown jungle across from St. Louis Fire Department Headquarters. Interestingly enough, STLFD HQ is in the old Pruitt Igoe Carr medical clinic building.

[jessemedic]

Pruitt Igoe was originally supposed to be for middle income families, but middle income families did not want to live there. Also, the skip-stop elevators were not designed to increase socialization in the stair wells, they were designed for maximum efficiency, to get people on and off quicker. Someone said it wasn't as bad as people make it out to be... Yeah, it was. At most, they were only filled to 60% capacity. 95% of the windows were broken. Crime was out of control.