As part of this class, you are asked to view a documentary film about an iconic piece of architecture that was constructed in the mid-20th century, the Pruitt-Igoe Housing Complex in St. Louis Missouri.
In addition to watching the documentary in its entirety, you must also read a scholarly article about the building by architectural historian Katherine Bristol prior to your viewing of the film.
You are asked to write a two-page (double-spaced, standard 1” margins on all sides) review of the documentary film that also considers its relationship to the scholarly article, which touches on the same topic.
This written review is assigned in lieu of the weekly reading response usually due in discussion section. This assignment is graded in the same manner as the rest of the discussion section assignments, although it is weighted more heavily as it requires more time.
Your review should include an in-depth discussion (one paragraph) of an aspect of the film that either surprised you or that you found powerful/interesting, as well as how you think that the film has implications for design today.
Please also spend at least one paragraph discussing the film’s relationship to the journal article assigned to accompany it (the title is provided below). For instance, did you find one of the two mediums (film or journal article) more informative about the actual architecture that comprised the Pruitt-Igoe development?
Or, as another example of a question you might consider, do you think that the film-maker and the author share the same exact viewpoint with regard to the development?
Or, which of the two mediums (film or journal article) do you find the most authoritative or convincing in its presentation of the “myth” that Pruitt-Igoe represents? What exactly is this myth?
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (Director Chad Freidrichs, Distributed by Unicorn Stencil, 2011, 2015). This documentary film is available for free on Kanopy through the CPP library. You can
access the film by going to the link that follows on the library’s website and then entering your credentials:
• The assigned reading to accompany this documentary is Katherine G. Bristol, “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth,”in Journal of Architectural Education, May 1991, vol. 44, no. 3. Pp. 163-17, which is attached here.
