Justice
A New Life for Pruitt-Igoe
A design competition is underway to re-imagine America's most infamous public housing complex
When Pruitt-Igoe was constructed in the mid-1950s, it was hailed as a triumph over the American slum. But it became exactly that in a matter of years. The infamous St. Louis housing project succumbed to the wrecking ball only 16 years after its completion, its destruction a massive symbol of the death of urban renewal philosophies.
Forty years after its demolition, Pruitt-Igoe is still a dirty word among urbanists. So far, redevelopment has been limited to the site's far west corner, with the construction of a school in 1995. An unplanned urban forest covers the rest.