THE PRUITT-IGOE MYTH

Built in 1956, the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex (designed by Minoru Yamasaki, who would later build The World Trade Center) was meant to bring the poor out of the ghetto, answer America’s low income housing needs and serve as a symbol of the bright future of public housing.  Its outright failure and subsequent demolition 16 years later is referred to as, “the death of modern architecture”.  Director Chad Freidrichs follows some of its past residents and illuminates the complex issues of race, class, political and urban design that led to the demise of this visionary landmark and the lasting stain on public housing in America.  It is a powerful cautionary tale that resonates equally in America and abroad.

Director: Chad Freidrichs

Year: 2011

Festivals: Los Angeles Film Festival, Silverdocs, True/False

Awards:

Cinema Eye Honors (NOMINEE - Spotlight Award)

International Documentary Awards (WINNER - ABC News Videosource Award)

Distributor: First Run Features (US)

Praise:

"Armed with archival footage and wrenching interviews, filmmaker Chad Freidrichs revisits one of our nation’s darkest hours—and emerges with a scrupulous, revelatory consideration of the varied factors that turned a worthy plan into a horrific, state-sanctioned nightmare for a generation of working-class African-Americans. It’s a heartbreaking alarm call for a society that desperately needs to learn from its worst mistakes."  - Eric Hynes, TIME OUT NEW YORK

"This devastating documentary, about the St. Louis high-rise public-housing development that went from Great Urban Hope to international disgrace, is an engulfing real-life horror story as well as a testimony to the dominance of the image in American public discourse." - Michael Sagrow, THE NEW YORKER