1 IDENTITY
3 IMMERSION
A branded multi-media campaign, including billboards, posters, and a website remind the public of the Pruitt-Igoe site and story. Goal: spark curiosity
A simple stair pavilion placed within the Pruitt-Igoe forest grants access to the site and provides an opportunity to overlook downtown, the Arch, and the DeSoto-Carr neighborhood simultaneously. Operable panels controlled by the public’s interaction with the website open and close the walls of the pavilion like a shutter. In this last phase, public interest and participation literally unlock the site, neighborhood, and city, producing a 21st century spectacle.
// ad campaign
Pruitt-Igoe Interactive In 1972, the highly-publicized demolition turned spectacle was supposed to make way for improved housing on the site. Instead, it lead to stagnation. Now, forty years later, a public campaign and series of events will re-invigorate the site, unite the city, and remind and educate people about the situation surrounding Pruitt-Igoe. Today’s urban forest is an important testament to the political, social, and ecological forces left in the wake of Pruitt-Igoe. It is a tool that should be utilized and not drastically altered.
This design proposal calls for an ad campaign, a series of temporary installations, a temporary pavilion, and a website that create a platform for awareness, providing an opportunity to learn and share. Combining a DIY spirit with social networking and mobile technology, this project urges the public, both locally and globally, to engage with the site, its history, and what it could become in the future.
C I L B U P E C I T O N
2 INTERACTION
// P.I.N.formation pods
Short for “Pruitt-Igoe Now information,” the PINformation pods provide visual and auditory information about and an opportunity for interaction with Pruitt-Igoe. Their placement throughout the city provides a connection to the current urban landscape of St. Louis and an opportunity to record the pulse of the city. To reach multiple demographics, interaction varies from geotagging with mobile devices to printing a postcard. Goal: entice interaction
// stair pavilion
WEBSITE
// pi-2.tumblr.com
1 IDENTITY // ad campaign
WEBSITE // pi-2.tumblr.com
place stamp here
Pruitt-Igoe Interactive
Pru
3
O-CARR
ctive p
Intera itt-Igoe
ON-
d has gathered by the projection pod on MLK! The pod on Je What is the sound track at the pod under the Arch?
The website connects all three physical elements by providing information on Pruitt-Igoe through images, video, audio, and personal accounts of Pruitt-Igoe and St. Louis past and present. This information is collected via individual submission and through recording devices on the pods. The website will remain as a permanent memory repository for Pruitt-Igoe’s evolving story.
SITE
DOWNTOWN
i-2.tum
blr.com
DOWNTOWN
Pr ui tt- Ig oe In te ra ct iv e
fferson has pics of my grandma’s childhood home! She told great stories about h... Joined in a pick-up soccer game in some of the vacant yards across...
ory s h a re a m e m participate at a
d or at pi-2.tum
PINformation po
blr.com
The website displays real-time feeds of user uploads, and audio and video streams from the pods and pavilion. These will also be archived in the website’s memory repository. P ru it In te t- Ig o e c ti p i- 2 ra m o b ilv e e
JSMIT HAs mall c has g ro ath projec ered by th wd tion p e od on MLK! MARY P pod o check out n the Avenu Magnolia e - so unds alm... TOM3 7 today Took a vid eo n down ear the po d town. JFCL AR Jeffers K The pod o o my gra n has pics n o ndma ’s chil f dh... CCW OO sound D2 What is track at the the pod
Pr ui tt- Ig oe e In te ra ct ivile pi- 2 m ob
?
lia... 4202 Magno GEOTAGGED as ma... This one w COMMENT
PI2 Mobile allows the public to post photos and comments – all geotagged to assist others as they explore the city.
A highway billboard along 64/40 brings PI2 to the masses.
Postcards ensure a diverse public – even those outside of St. Louis.
2 INTERACTION // PINformation pods
?
WHAT’S THAT WHITE THING MAKING ALL THE NOISE?
HURRY, THE BUS IS COMING!
WEBSITE
CRASH!
, RUN Y! NN H O J
MOMMY, WHY IS THE BUILDING FALLING DOWN?
FWOOF WOOF! Pods collect information from their surroundings in addition to providing information. The collected audio, video, or other sensory information is wirelessly transmitted to the website. A view from the top of Downtown and the Arch.
This pod emits sounds reminiscent of PruittIgoe ranging from kids cheering during a baseball game to the crash of the wrecking ball.
Projected images and videos of Pruitt-Igoe and the DeSoto-Carr neighbhorhood, past and present, enliven the neighborhood buildings.
An array of varying pods (yellow dots) are located throughout St. Louis and select international cities with a history of similar public housing.
WEBSITE ACTIVITY
3 IMMERSION // stair pavilion
+ stairs
+
scaffolding frame white panels
Pruitt-Igoe site ~1968
DN
The panels rotate based on website usage, slowly cycling from a closed position to open position. (See diagrams at right.) The current status of the panels is displayed on the website so web visitors can see the effect of their actions.
UP
Pruitt-Igoe site 2012
Pavilion visitors approach through the woods and discover the pavilion panels are almost fully open – they are in luck. The moment when all the panels align is truly a spectacle.
The pavilion is located at the intersection of existing roads and walkways within the Pruitt-Igoe site. This minimizes destruction of the forest by the pavilion or its visitors.
The stair is a viewing platform, minormonument locating Pruitt-Igoe in the city, and physical connection to the residents who often had to take stairs since their “skip-stop” elevators did not stop on all floors.
The pods and pavilion panels are made of polyethylene, a recyclable plastic that is durable and used for everything from shampoo bottles to modern outdoor furniture. It is easily molded or milled into the unique forms required for the branded pods and panels. The pavilion scaffolding can also be disassembled and reused.
The panels begin in the closed position. Visitors experience acute views through the gaps in the panels.
Website activity causes the panels to slowly rotate into the open position. This process transforms a static tower into a dynamic event.
At the end of the cycle, the panels fully open, unlocking the site.