33land

remediation erasure agriculture community futures

re-visiting a modernist icon

planning | feral sites by nora wendl

figure 1 Demolition of Pruitt-Igoe housing tower.

I n his essay ‘The Temporality of the Landscape’, philosopher Tim Ingold writes, “Let me begin by explaining what landscape is not. It is not ‘land,’ it is not ‘nature,’ and it is not ‘space’.” 1 In this simple sentence, Ingold acknowledges that landscapes do not abstractly contain the records of the deliberate interventions and events that transpire upon them – they are the record. From the perspective of the archaeologist and the native dweller, he writes, the landscape is itself the story. For those theorists, historians and designers who would seek to write Pruitt-Igoe’s story, it is difficult, if not impossible, to read the site in its present state as a record of its past – to see in this lush, forested landscape the 33 eleven-story buildings that once towered over it, or the houses that preceded them. It is perhaps easier to read the site cinematically, through a string of iconic images—as a moment that was the symbolic birth of the post-modern architectural movement. ( figure 1 ) “Happily,” wrote Charles Jencks, “it is possible to date the death of Modern Architecture to a precise moment in time… Modern Architecture died in St. Louis, Missouri on July 15, 1972 at 3.32 pm (or thereabouts) when the infamous Pruitt- Igoe scheme, or rather several of its slab blocks, were given the final coup de grâce by dynamite. Previously it had been vandalised, mutilated and defaced by its inhabitants and although millions of dollars were pumped back, trying to keep it alive (fixing the broken elevators, repairing smashed windows, repainting), it was finally put out of its misery. Boom, boom, boom.” 2 Jencks’ blindness toward Pruitt- Igoe as a federally programmed failure—not one that was hastened to its end by the residents—is evidence of what Pruitt-Igoe has become: a symbol of failure used by theorists to advance specific agendas. Oscar Newman used images of Pruitt-Igoe in its most vandalised, pre-demolition state to argue that its architectural design was the culprit for its failure as it lacked the physical characteristics that would allow the inhabitants to ensure their own security—his theory of defensible space. Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter used Pruitt- Igoe in their polemic on postmodern architecture as evidence that the modern architectural movement failed because of its impulses toward social engineering. Charles Jencks used a photograph of the implosion of Pruitt-Igoe building C-15 to dramatically announce the demise of modern architecture and the beginning of the post-modern era. 3 But only Jencks had a vision for the site’s future: “Without doubt, the ruins should be kept, the remains should have a preservation order slapped on them, so that we keep a live memory of this failure in planning and architecture.” 4

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Public domain.

Though Jencks did not know it, even as he wrote this, the site was a live memory of the towers. When the first edition of The Language of Postmodern Architecture was published in 1977, the demolition of these buildings would have been complete, with local wrecking companies Cleveland and Aalco destroying the remaining 31 towers by wrecking ball between January 1976 and the spring of 1977. Today, the former towers are still present on the site: under thousands of pounds of fill are fragments of the broken foundations, reinforced concrete and stock brick. More prominently, the electric substation is announced by a high-voltage sign and surrounded by barbed wire warning curious visitors to stay out. 1 Tim Ingold. ‘The Temporality of the Landscape’, in The Perception of the Environment: Essays in Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill. New York: Routledge, 2000. p190 2 Charles Jencks. The New Paradigm in Architecture: The Language of Post-modernism . New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2002. p9 3 Though Jencks dates the destruction of the towers to July 15, 1972, Pruitt-Igoe tower C-15 was cinematically demolished on April 21, 1972 in a ‘trial demolition’. 4 Charles Jencks. The New Paradigm in Architecture: The Language of Post-modernism . New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2002. p9 5 www.citylab.com/housing/2014/08/a-failed-public-housing-project- could-be-a-key-to-st-louis-future/379078/

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