Imploding the Pruitt-Igoe Myth

Accepted wisdom will have us believe St. Louis' infamous Pruitt-Igoe public housing development was destined for failure. Designed by George Hellmuth and World Trade Center architect Minoru Yamasaki (of Leinweber, Yamasaki & Hellmuth), the 33-building complex opened in 1954, its Modernist towers touted as a remedy to overcrowding in the city’s tenements. Rising crime, neglected facilities, and fleeing tenants led to its demolition—in a spectacular series of implosions—less than two decades later. In the popular narrative, bad public policy, bad architecture, and bad people doomed Pruitt-Igoe, and it became an emblem of failed social welfare projects across the country. But director Chad Freidrichs challenges that convenient and oversimplified assessment in his documentary The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, opening in limited release January 20.

He makes a compelling case. Drawing heavily on archival footage, raw data, and historical reanalysis, the film reorients Pruitt-Igoe as the victim of institutional racism and post-war population changes in industrial cities, among other issues far more complex than poor people not appreciating nice things. But while Freidrichs opens a new vein for discussing Pruitt-Igoe, he doesn't totally dispel the titular myth about it. There's a passing mention of the project’s failure being one of Modernist planning, that such developments "created a breeding ground for isolation, vandalism, and crime." And of course there's an invocation of Charles Jencks' famous declaration that the death of Pruitt-Igoe was "the death of Modernism." But Freidrichs never adequately addresses Pruitt-Igoe's place in the history of urban design.


To read more at The Architectural Record, click here.

Scotland's creepiest building in £10m restoration scheme

St Peter's Seminary, a masterpiece of radical architecture, has lain derelict for 30 years and fallen prey to vandals.

An appeal has been launched to save a derelict building hidden in an overgrown wood in Scotland that is described as one of the greatest modernist buildings in Europe.

With its long, clean lines covered by graffiti and its concrete greyed with rainwater, St Peter's Seminary has lain in a state of ruin since it was abandoned by the Catholic church in 1980. The vast, crumbling building is accessible only by foot and, despite a number of restoration proposals over recent decades, it has been left to decay and to the vandals. It has been dubbed "Scotland's shame" and "Scotland's creepiest building", yet a plan to turn the ruin into a hotel in 2007 was dropped because of the cost of restoration.

To read more of this content at The Observer, click here.

A virtual 360-degree tour can be found here.

Photo-Essay Modernist Buildings in Winnipeg

Clockwise from top:

Chateau 100, one of Winnipeg's most revered residential highrises.

Worker's Compensation Board (WCB) headquarters on Broadway Ave.

Centennial Auditorium, with its adjacent planetarium, is a excellent example of dozens of modernist structures that were erected in and around Canada's 100th birthday in an orgy of nationalism and stimulus funding.

Winnipeg City Hall

The Public Safety Building, a textbook example of the Brutalist sub-genre of modernist architecture

The Legacy of Bauhaus

BAUHAUS was not only an architectural style; it was also a social solution to the problems of the 1920s and 1930s whose concepts remain relevant today.

“The future of architecture lies in the application of Bauhaus ideas to today’s problems – including affordable housing, which remains the main architectural issue of the 21st century. The focus of Bauhaus architecture has always been on finding solutions to the fundamental problems of humans in their respective times,” said Michael Siebenbrodt, director of the Bauhaus Museum in Weimar, Germany, in conversation with the American photographer Gordon Watkinson.

Enchanted by the concept of Bauhaus, Watkinson photographed 12 iconic buildings typical of the Bauhaus style and 12 contemporary buildings inspired by or reflecting the ideas of Bauhaus. The photos are on show until March 27 at the Design Factory in Bratislava as part of the exhibition Bauhaus Twenty-21: An Ongoing Legacy. The images not only convey the architectural history of Bauhaus, but go much deeper, uncovering its enduring philosophies and the importance of its legacy for contemporary architects.

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Modernist Buildings Have a Story to Tell

In 2007, the American Institute of Architects launched a public survey to identify "America's Favourite Architecture." With the Empire State Building, the White House and the Washington National Cathedral finishing in the Top 3, the list exposed a strong public connection with heritage buildings. Of the Top 50 favourite structures in the United States, only five were built after the Second World War.

These results raise the question: Do people prefer historic buildings for their character and style or, like a favourite pair of faded blue jeans, is time and familiarity an important factor in the public perception of architecture? Will the steel and glass modernist buildings that replaced these styles be just as well-loved when they are old enough to be considered historic? If so, should we work to protect them in the same way we do the brick buildings of the Exchange District?

The answers to these questions are of particular importance for Winnipeg, a city celebrated for its historic buildings, but less well known as home to one of the finest surviving collections of modernist architecture in Canada.

Emerging in the 1950s, modernism was an architectural movement that rejected the ornamentation of the past and celebrated the technological advancements of the 20th century. Heavy walls of stone were replaced with large curtains of glass flooding light into open interior spaces. The decorative motifs of the past gave way to a machine-inspired look of exposed structure and clean, austere lines.

Examples of this style, both large and small, can still be found in every Winnipeg neighbourhood. The Centennial Concert Hall and MTC Theatre, the Great West Life and Workers Compensation buildings, Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, Kildonan Park Pavilion and even the Bridge Drive-in (BDI) on Jubilee are all remnants of the modernist era.

The soon-to-be-replaced terminal building at the Richardson International Airport is one of Winnipeg's most significant representatives of this movement. Designed by GBR Architects in 1964, it stands as the only remaining example of a federal initiative to modernize Canada's national image by constructing a series of new airports across the country. Much like the railway did decades earlier, these new jet-age terminals were an effort to unify and inspire the country.

To read more of this content at The Winnipeg Free Press, click here.

Vancouver's Iconic Waldorf Lounge Will Remain Polynesian; Tiki Lounge Created in 1955

The architect in charge of renovations to the 63-year-old Waldorf Hotel on East Hastings Street says the iconic tiki lounge housed in the basement will remain true to its original Polynesian theme.

“What most people don’t understand is that except for the lounge, the hotel doesn’t have much tiki,” said Scott Cohen. “We plan to keep all of the tiki elements in the lounge and about 70 per cent of the renovations will be tiki style.”

Cohen is working with restaurateur Ernesto Gomez and musician Thomas Anselmi, who recently took over management of the Waldorf. In the 1980s, Anselmi belonged to the Vancouver punk band Slow and later the alternative-rock band Copyright.

Cohen is an award-winning architect responsible for the design of several popular Vancouver restaurants, including Gastropod and Les Faux Bourgeoisie, while Gomez is co-owner of Nuba restaurants. Also coming on board is Neil Bell, chef at Cabana in Kelowna, and until recently a host on the Food Network program Cook Like a Chef.

Cohen said plans for the hotel, which is scheduled to re-open in October, include an affordable café where the pub was located, as well as a slightly higher-priced European-inspired restaurant.

“When I say higher priced I still mean under $20,” said Cohen. “We want it to be known as a destination place that serves great food.”

The Waldorf was built in 1947 by architects Mercer and Mercer, who designed the building in the style of the modernism movement of the day. In 1955, as Polynesian culture caught the attention of the world, the architects cashed in on the craze and the hotel was transformed, including the creation of the still popular tiki lounge downstairs.

Cohen said one of the beauties of the building is its mix of minimalist modern architecture, including plenty of curving lines, with exotic Polynesian culture and art.

“It’s tiki with a kind of streamlined flare,” said Cohen. “Tiki meets modernism.”

To read more of this content at the Vancouver Courier, click here.

Asmara, Eritria's Beautiful African Modernist City (Video)

Architecture: It is Time to Market Modernism

It always rankles with architects that their work is rarely valued.

A simple comparison of sales prices for great works of art and great works of architecture reveals an astonishing discrepancy. It is difficult to draw parallels between artists and architects but in the case of two near-contemporaries, Picasso (1881-1973) and Le Corbusier (1887-1965), a Spaniard and a Swiss who each chose to make his home in Paris and each revolutionised his respective cultures, it is, for our purposes, reasonable.

Picasso’s “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” sold in May for $106.5m. Two years ago, the top floor of Le Corbusier’s Villa Stein, in an upmarket Parisian suburb, came on to the market. It was being touted at £775,000 ($1.1m), barely more than an equivalent apartment in a contemporary building. Yet this is one of the key buildings of the modern movement, a villa of stunning originality and exquisite proportions, a landmark in architectural history. It is also a great apartment – airy, with wonderful views. So why the disparity?

To read more of this content at The Financial Times click here.

The De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, UK

Text by Clifton Bertram

The iconic De La Warr Pavilion was commissioned in 1935 by Herbrand Sackville, the socialist 9th Earl De La Warr and then-mayor of Bexhill, and designed by Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff. The intent of the structure was to provide the residents of Bexhill and area with accessible culture and relaxation, demonstrating the progressive social consciousness that underlies so much of the modern movement. It was the first public building in the U.K. built in the Modernist Style, and is considered to be a perfect expression of the International Style.

"Part of a great national movement, virtually to found a new industry - the industry of giving that relaxation, that pleasure, that culture which hitherto the gloom and dreariness of British resorts have driven our fellow countrymen to seek in foreign lands."

- The Ninth Earl De La Warr, on the occasion of the Pavilion's unveiling.

The Pavilion also adroitly illustrates the transition from Art Deco to post-Deco modernism, combining curvilinear forms and marine architecture motifs with the concrete and steel construction and spacious, airy interiors that so influenced Mies Van Der Rohe.

While critical reaction to its unveiling was largely enthusiastic, fringe groups such as the pro-Nazi Weekly Fascist denounced the use of "foreign Jews" in its construction - perhaps as much a reflection on the fact that the Jewish Mendelsohn -- the co-designer of the structure, and one of the most celebrated architects in Germany -- had recently escaped the National Socialist government by fleeing to Britain. He was shortly thereafter to migrate to Palestine.

After falling into disrepair after decades of neglect, the Pavilion was restored and re-opened in 2005, with new additions such as its award-winning bandshell, a bold yet delicate flourish with styling reminiscent of an Art Deco handerchief vase, which perfectly preserves the spirit of the Pavilion while adding new functionality.

Desert Modernism

Architects in southern California and the American Southwest adapted ideas from the European Bauhaus movement to the warm climate and arid terrain.

Desert Modernism was a mid-twentieth century approach to modernism that capitalized on the sunny skies and warm climate of southern California and American Southwest. With expansive glass and streamlined styling, Desert Modernism was an regional approach to International Style architecture. Rocks, trees, and other landscape features were often incorporated into the design.

Characteristics of Desert Modernism:

- Expansive glass walls and windows
- Dramatic rooflines
-Wide overhangs
- Steel and plastic combined with wood and stone
- Open floor plans
= Outdoor living spaces incorporated into the overall design

Architects Associated With Desert Modernism:

-William F. Cody
- Albert Frey
- John Lautner
- Richard Neutra
- Donald Wexler
- E. Stewart Williams

(Text Source: About.com: Architecture)

(Image: adobe desert modern home in the Nob Hill section of Albuquerque, NM; photo by Clifton Bertram)

Architecture History: 50 Years of Brasilia

April 21st 2010, Brasilia - Brasil's capital - celebrated 50 years. A revolutionary project of a city built in only 4 years. Counting with talented hands from Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa, the city became a landmark for brazilian architecture.

In 1956, Juscelino Kubitschek - the president back then - started a plan to build a new city for Brazil's government. With the goal to plan and execute the construction were Oscar Niemeyer, the mind who would give forms and curves to official buildings, and Lucio Costa, the man with the 'airplane shape' urbanist plan.

And incredibly, in only 4 years, the city was inaugurated. Many buildings were only skeletons, but the candangos (name of the first inhabitants of the new city), were celebrating the new political city in Brazil.

To read more of this content at Abducted by Design, click here.