Louis and other american cities deindustrialized in the 50s and 60s, a national urbanrenewal program tried to address the mass exodus of residents and businesses from urban centers. The film argues that the dysfunctions that prompted the pruittigoe demolition were not inevitablethat crime, violence, and vandalism were products of a negligent maintenance regime, poor financing, and poor design, as well as what new school urban studies professor joseph heathcott, an interviewee, characterizes as the use of public housing. Analysis of the pruittigoe myth documentary essay example. Designed by minoru yamasaki the architect who would later design the world trade. Produced by chad freidrichs, jaime freidrichs, brian woodman, paul fehler. The pruittigoe myth is a 2011 documentary film detailing the history of the pruittigoe public housing complex in st. The pruittigoe myth tells the story of the transformation of the american city in. When the pruittigoe myth, which tells the story of pruittigoe, the infamous public housing.
Everyone they interviewed had positive happy memories of living in pruitt igoe despite poor conditions toward the end. The footage and images of its implosion have helped to perpetuate a myth of failure. The pruitt igoe myth is a documentary that tries to zero in on just why the massive public project went so quickly from being an modern masterpiece to an absolute hell in such a short amount of time. To the film s credit, no single factor or group of individuals is given blame for what went so terribly wrong. The pruittigoe myth docudrama tells about the narrative of the pruitt igoe public lodging composite in st. The development and failure of a 1950s housing estate in st. Two decades later, it ended in rubble its razing an iconic event. Watch the pruitt igoe myth online watch full the pruitt igoe myth online for free himself urban historian joseph heathcott noline pruitt igoe myth legalized and funded, st. Louis, there will be a pruitt igoe sidewalk tour and a screening of the documentary the pruitt igoe myth on thursday, july 26 at the st. The pruittigoe myth explores the social, economic and legislative issues that led to the decline of. The pruittigoe myth 2011 stream and watch online filmmaker chad freidrichs examines the development and failure of a 1950s housing estate in st. A unicorn stencil presentation in association with the missouri history museum.
Destroyed in a dramatic and highlypublicized implosion, the pruittigoe public housing complex has become a widespread symbol of failure amongst architects, politicians and policy makers. The causes of crime in pruitt igoe are shared by hundreds of cities across the country that have lost their manufacturing jobs, population, and tax base. In order to tackle the complexity of the issue, the documentary is structured in a chronological way, starting in the 1940s and concluding at the destruction of the. In this extremely welldone documentary by chad freidrichs, former. The pruitt igoe myth, an album by benjamin balcom on spotify we and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. It was receiving my first lab bill for transferring archival footage to hd that. The producers have compiled an additional fifty minutes of resident stories, a valuable oral history of life in pruittigoe that continues the emotional dialogue begun in the film. Chad freidrichs is the director of the new documentary the pruitt igoe myth and in the film he examines all the reasons people cite for the demise of pruitt igoe. Louis, missouri, and the eventual decision to raze the entire complex in 1976. The film sets out to defy conventional wisdom, to refute longheld beliefs, the myths built to define, and absolve us of, the public housing projects demise. When the pruittigoe myth, which tells the story of pruittigoe, the infamous public. Director chad freidrichs takes a long and necessary look at the modernist housing project designed to take residents out of ratinfested tenements and put them in clean, modern high rises designed to provide shelter, succor and dignity to the poverty stricken residents of st.
Dec, 2017 gabriel safier this short documentary chronicles the rise and swift decline of the pruitt igoe public housing project, tracing its many failures and flaws. The larger part of the pruittigoe site is made up of oak and hickory woodland and fenced off waste land, with the pruittigoe electrical substation located in the center of the latter. The myths of the pruittigoe myth city journal project. The former desotocarr slums around the pruittigoe have also been torn down and replaced with lowdensity, singlefamily housing. It doesnt answer a single question about the failure of pruitt igoe. Join fandango vip for free it only takes a few seconds to join. An image used in the documentary film the pruittigoe myth. But as the documentary evolved, archival footage ended up driving the. Louis pruitt igoe housing project by examining the rise and fall of the oncepromising development within a historical context. Louis, missouri, and the eventual decision to raze the entire complex in 1976 the documentary argues that the violent social collapse within the pruittigoe complex was not due to the demographic composition of its residents, but was a result of wider, external social. The pruitt igoe myth is a documentary film about the ways in which the american city changed in the 20th century. Louis, missouri, that was opened in the mid1950s was portion of the postwardream of replacing the. The pruitt igoe myth tells the story of the transformation of the american city in the decades after world war ii, through the lens of the infamous pruitt igoe housing development and the st.
Built in 1956, pruittigoe was heralded as the model public housing project of. Louis north side, the federallyfunded development was created to provide shelter for 12,000 africanamerican refugees of the citys crumbling slums. The pruittigoe myth is surely one of the best and most moving documentaries in recent years. Built in 1956, pruittigoe was heralded as the model public housing project of the future, the poor mans penthouse.
The pruittigoe myth chronicles an urban legends rise and fall. Apr 18, 2012 challenging the myth of pruitt igoe posted on april 18, 2012 by timothy the pruitt igoe myth, a documentary by chad freidrichs, comprises yet another attempt to interpret the history of pruitt igoe, a vast and ambitious st. Its a story about promises made to decent people in the hopeful years following wwii, and how those promises were broken. The producers have compiled an additional fifty minutes of resident stories, a valuable oral history of life in pruitt igoe that continues the emotional dialogue begun in the film. Please feel free to visit our website, join our facebook page, or follow our progress on twitter. The testimony of former residents forms the heart of the pruitt igoe myth, but many great hours of resident interviews were left on the cutting room floor. Pruitt igoe myth public housing project business insider. The pruitt igoe myth seeks to set the historical record straight. Built in 1956, pruitt igoe was heralded as the model public housing project of the future, the poor mans penthouse. Rent the pruittigoe myth 2011 on dvd and bluray netflix. The pruittigoe myth explores the social, economic and legislative issues that led to the decline of conventional public housing in. The story of pruitt igoe, though, belongs to every american, as the film makes perfectly clear. Jan 02, 2011 trailer for the documentary film the pruitt igoe myth.
The testimony of former residents forms the heart of the pruittigoe myth, but many great hours of resident interviews were left on the cutting room floor. Architects, urban planers, sociologist, and politicians have all weighed in on why the housing project failed, but no one can pin point the exact. In this episode of 99% invisible, we focus on the popular idea that the architecture was to blame. The pruitt igoe myth docudrama tells about the narrative of the pruitt igoe public lodging composite in st. Not the dramatic, notorious television footage of the 1972 implosion of an 11story building in the st. The documentary argues that the violent social collapse within the pruittigoe complex was not due to the demographic composition of its residents. Louis commissioned a public housing project unlike any in history. The creation and execution of the countrys first public housing, the same housing that will later become known as the projects.
The pruitt igoe myth is distributed by first run features and is screening at the ifc center in new york city starting january 20, 2012, and will roll out across the country to coincide with the 40 year anniversary of the implosion in march 2012. Built in 1956, pruitt igoe was heralded as the model public housing project of the future, the. Filmmaker chad freidrichs attempts to dispel the myths surrounding st. The film puts pruittigoes history in the broader context of american cities after world war ii, as they lost jobs and population especially white. The film follows the story of the projects from the moment when.
Destroyed in a dramatic and highlypublicized implosion, the pruitt igoe public housing complex has become a widespread symbol of failure amongst architects, politicians and policy makers. The pruittigoe myth 2011 chad freidrichs dvdrip free download. The pruitt igoe myth is a documentary film that depicts a radical experiment in the united states. The pruittigoe myth is a documentary film about the ways in which the american city changed in the 20th century. To examine the interests involved in pruitt igoe s creation. Louis public housing project by detroit architect minoru yamasaki that was completed in 1956 and failed sixteen years later. With slyvester brown, irvin dagen, elmer fiedler, robert fishman.
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