Re-Imagining Social Housing: Towards A Sustainable Model
“The hardware – what we provided in concrete and brick – was relatively OK. The problem was there wasn't the software to run the damn thing” 1
These were architect Tim Tinker’s words, expressed with absolute disappointment at the demolition of the Heygate Estate in south London; a housing development once home to over 3000 people. 2
The development is just one of many examples of social housing projects that are based on a ‘Utopian’ vision of marveling as providers of affordable housing for low-income communities with the hope of sustainable integration within the existing urban context. The Heygate Estate, however, deteriorated into a ‘mugger’s paradise’, one that was too difficult to maintain and was in need of demolition. 3
The Heygate Estate is one of two unsuccessful examples of housing developments in the modern urban context that I will critique in this research study; the other one being the infamous ‘Pruitt-Igoe’ housing project.
This study will examine these projects and explore some of the problems that led to their demise as a testimony of the approaches contemporary architects, urbanists and planners oppose in social housing. Further into the study, a comparison with more successful social housing developments will be presented, such as the Harlem River Houses in New York City, on the basis of better social planning approaches applied through a more detailed and positive architectural scenario.
“Re-imagining Social Housing” will then conclude with a chapter on contemporary 21st century social housing approaches that take into regard architectural elements such as scale, materiality and landscaping in the hope of creating sustainable communities through positive architectural gestures.
1 Moss, S 2011, The Death of a Housing Ideal, The Guardian, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/mar/04/death-housing-ideal>
2 Ibid;
3 Ibid;
Chapter 1: Modernist architecture and the failure of “social housing” as a typology
To place the full responsibility of the failure of the social housing typology within the settings of unreasonable design decisions, material choices or scale is a simplified approach to understanding the precise elements that lead to the demise of a particular building or development. As Katherine Bristol argues in her article entitled ‘The Pruitt-Igoe Myth”, such an approach and thinking strategy, based entirely on blaming the architect, will shift our attention from the institutional or structural sources of social housing problems.[1] The Pruitt-Igoe housing project was in fact praised for its architecture and although many critics wish to believe that its failure was the result of the insensitivity of High Modernism towards creating adequate liveable environments for the poor, such views only elevate the existing problem to another level.[2]
Pruitt-Igoe, an urban housing project first occupied in 1954 in St. Louis, is an exemplar of how an ideal housing solution deteriorates to become a burden for the city and its people on both economic and social levels. The project started to fragment in the late 1950s; however its final demise in the early ‘70s represented a metaphor for the end of modernism.13 The St. Louis Housing Authority had commissioned the architecture firm Leinweber, Yamasaki and Hellmuth in 1950 to design Pruitt-Igoe.14 The architects’ original proposal was to create a housing development of varying scales and heights with walk-up structures on the 57-acre land surrounded by the inner city buildings of St. Louis.15 However due to intense economic pressures, the scheme was forced to change and adapt the shape of 33 identical towers of eleven-stories each.16 Nevertheless, the initial intentions of the architects, to improve the liveability standards of the high-rise units, remained as a fundamental approach.17
One of the architectural strategies the firm had applied to the towers was a “skip-stop” elevator system with glazed internal galleries, aiming at creating “individual neighbourhoods” within each building.20 Those were the highlighting features of the Soviet-style housing towers, without which Pruitt-Igoe would not have been praised in Architectural Record, which described the feature “as an innovative compensation for the shortcomings of the high-rise form”.21
Though envisioning a utopic solution whereby a harmonious community is created in the high-rise and high density towers, devoid of the stigma of the ‘projects’ atmosphere, the lack of proper landscape design, children play areas and variety in scale falsified the true intent of the development.22 Due to more economic constraints on the execution of the high-rise towers, the quality of Pruitt-Igoe began to suffer, as well as the tenants. “The quality of the hardware was so poor that doorknobs and locks were broken on initial use, the kitchen cabinets were made of the thinnest plywood possible” and one thing lead to another; a decline in occupancy rate.23 The lack of management and the undermining of a city’s social, economic and political change had affected Pruitt-Igoe’s success tremendously.
Big gone wrong: Pruitt-Igoe’s purpose was lost in its unplanned scale!
In my belief the failure of the Pruitt-Igoe towers is primarily the fault of lacking a variation in scales and heights, where the initial proposal of ‘individuality’ was neglected, and secondly the failure to understand the need of social housing developments to involve vibrant and homogenous communities. And as Rem koolhaas argues in “S,M,L,XL”, while a certain structure or mass acquires the qualities of bigness, the distance between its core and its envelope grows to the point where the façade would no longer act as a transparent architectural gesture that would allow us to understand what happens on the inside.26 The layering of neglect and lack of maintenance over time had also affected Pruitt-Igoe’s functionality and by 1976 the urban housing project was in need of total demolition.27
The Heygate Estate
“The problem lies within the software; not the hardware, within the people; not the buildings; and within politics, not aesthetics”. With these words Stephen Moss describes the “death of a housing ideal”, the demise of the Heygate Estate in South London in 2011, a social housing development built on the best of intentions to house the labouring masses and create modern liveable environments in 1974.34 To describe it as a ‘Utopian vision’ may be a step too far, but with a sustainable and fast construction approach to its assembly in mind, such as pre-cast concrete slabs which meant less labour-time on site, the designer Tim Tinker embedded some degree of utopianism in the project.35
Designed with the intention to facilitate people’s movement within the estate through walkways afar from cars, airy and light units and central communal gardens were once admired architectural features, that may have been based on CIAM’s and Le Corbusier’s elements of modernist urbanism.36 However with the rise of crime, violence and the overall layering of neglect and lack of maintenance, the once ideal Heygate Estate reminds us of the Pruitt-Igoe housing example in that it fell victim to those disruptive elements of society and talks of its demolition were initiated in early 2010.37
“It was difficult to maintain and hard to heat”, “the architecture of the 1970s became quite unfashionable and would not work aesthetically or sustainably in the 21st century”, “those walkways once worked but now they just became muggers’ paradise”; these are all general views about the Heygate Estate abhorring it for what it had become.41 Therefore to Tinker, the deterioration of the estate lied not in its architectural language, although as in the case of Pruitt-Igoe, it seemed to have lacked variation in scale and lack of the openness of spaces, but rather in the faults of planning for the future of the estate in an ever developing city such as London.42
“It was more like a prison than a housing estate” - a former resident of the Heygate Estate 43
Chapter 1: References
4- Bristol, K. 1991, The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, Journal of Architectural Education, ASCA, page: 163
5- Ibid;
6- Official Trailer - the Pruitt-Igoe Myth: an Urban History, Documentary, The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, found at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7RwwkNzF68>
7- Ibid;
8- Ibid;
9- Bristol, 1991, page:163
10- The Death of an architectural myth, Documentary, PBSNewshour, found at:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_zFIg8N9Rw>
11- Ibid;
12- Ibid;
13- Bristol, 1991, pg: 168
14- Ibid; pg: 164
15- Ibid;
16- Ibid;
17- Ibid;
18- Moore, R, 2012, Pruitt-Igoe: death of the American urban dream, The Guardian, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/feb/26/pruitt-igoe-myth-film-review>
19- Bristol, 1991, pg: 164
20- Ibid;
21- Ibid;
22- Ibid;
23- Ibid; pg: 165
24- The Death of an architectural myth, Documentary, PBSNewshour, found at:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_zFIg8N9Rw>
25- Ibid;
26- Koolhaas, R. 1995, “Bigness, or the problem of Large”, S, M, L, XL, Monacelli Press, New York, page: 500
27- Bristol, 1991, pg: 168
28- Official Trailer - the Pruitt-Igoe Myth: an Urban History, Documentary, The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, found at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7RwwkNzF68>
29- Ibid;
30- Ibid;
31- Ramroth, W, 2007, Planning for Disaster: How Natural and Man-made Disasters Shape the Built Environment Kaplan Publishing, page: 166
32- Moss, S 2011, The Death of a Housing Ideal, The Guardian, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/mar/04/death-housing-ideal>
33- Ibid;
34- Ibid;
35- Ibid;
36- Ibid;
37- Ibid;
38- Zefrog, 2011, In Pictures: The Heygate Estate, SE17 – A Modern Secret Garden?, Londonist, viewed on: 8/11/2012, found at: <http://londonist.com/2011/04/in-pictures-heygate-estate-se1.php?showpage=5#gallery-1>
39- Ibid;
40- Ibid;
41- Moore, K 2011, ‘Muggers’ Paradise’ the Heygate Estate is Demolished, BBC News, London, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13092349>
42- Ibid;
43- The Heygate Estate, development planning, documentary, viewed on: 8/11/2012, found at:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkZqgcj0n8Q>
44- Zefrog, 2011, In Pictures: The Heygate Estate, SE17 – A Modern Secret Garden?, Londonist, viewed on: 8/11/2012, found at: <http://londonist.com/2011/04/in-pictures-heygate-estate-se1.php?showpage=5#gallery-1>
45- Ibid
Chapter 2: Successful social housing examples: The Harlem River Houses
The Harlem River Houses, described as one of New York City’s ‘most attractive’ public housing complexes, is an example of the successes of early 20th century in terms of its architectural and social approaches to housing the African-American community in New York.49 Not marred by the escalating levels of crime and violence, the Harlem River Houses set a positive example for future social housing planning and design by 21st century architects. The housing development built in 1937 was described as an ‘outstandingly excellent job of planning’.50 The architects commissioned had engaged positively with the local environment where the fulfillment of the social needs and the assertion of the people to attain their rights of good housing were a top priority.51 The design of those apartments was an indication of an attempt to create shelter that would reach the broader population of the city.55 Moreover, the architects’ interest was in housing, as a socially responsive act to facilitate the community in need, but not categorizing housing in accordance with .56 With such an approach as a start, the level of the housing complex execution elevates to higher standards.
According to Gail Radford, in his book entitled ‘Modern Housing for America: Policy Struggles in the New Deal Era”, what gave the housing complex the strength to distinguish itself from other social or public housing projects was the fact that architecturally, the Harlem River houses were not identical and this allowed for the creation of diversity and individualism within the complex.57
Part American-garden- with – European style- classicism and part superblock planning with the traditional orientation towards the city; the housing complex was applauded for its high standards of liveability through adequate ventilation, the preservation of the right to room privacy and in addition to those design elements, a nursery school with an outdoor play area, a child welfare clinic and a branch of the New York public library were available at the complex.58
To now fairly compare the Pruitt-Igoe and the Heygate Estate with the Harlem River Houses, it is without doubt that the earlier projects were socially inept and fundamentally incomplete, whilst the later housing complex fulfils the social needs of the occupants above all.
Chapter 2- references
46- Flickr, “Fake is the new real”, 2007, Harlem River Houses, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/fakeisthenewreal/410155219/in/set-72157594569349328/>
47- New York City Housing Authority, NYCHA News, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/news/HRH_photogallery.shtml>
48- Ibid;
49- Radford, G 1996, Modern Housing for America: Policy Struggles in the New Deal Era, The University of Chicago Press, London, page: 147
50- Ibid; pg: 160
51- Ibid;
52- Flickr, “Fake is the new real”, 2007, Harlem River Houses, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/fakeisthenewreal/410155219/in/set-72157594569349328/>
53- Ibid;
54- Ibid;
55- Radford, 1996, pg: 147
56- Ibid; pg: 161
57- Ibid;
58- Ibid; pg: 165
59- New York City Housing Authority, NYCHA News, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/news/HRH_photogallery.shtml>
60- Ibid;
61- Flickr, “Fake is the new real”, 2007, Harlem River Houses, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fakeisthenewreal/410155219/in/set-72157594569349328/
Sustainable Social Housing: Public + Private = community
Seeking a better and more sustainable 21st century architectural model of social housing developments that have moved forward beyond the phase of garish property advertisement that promise low-income families a ‘better life’, 62 I came across many examples where the ‘Pruitt-Igoe’ model still surfaces; only with a different façade, perhaps like the Grenfell Tower with flammable cladding. Medium-height buildings have replaced 11-storey towers, colourful verandas and balconies were added to apartments and green areas with bicycle lanes and water features have ousted concrete-paved entry ways to housing estates. The main question now is: will we have another Pruitt-Igoe?
Many architects have blamed Pruitt-Igoe’s monolithic and motionless architectural language for its failure, and thus there is a reason why 21st century architects have a tendency to beautify the façade of social housing developments, as in the case of the Carlton estate redevelopment, in Melbourne, Australia. The re-development redevelopment is being built over nine stages: Stages 1 to 3 are a mixed public and private housing development, Stage 5 is the Australian Unity Aged Care and Wellbeing Centre, Stages 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are private housing. While that seems rather promising and planned thoroughly, again we witness a lack of a more considered social scale as it seems to be neglected through physical site boundaries such as unnecessary separating 2m high walls.63 These will only lead to one result: a total destruction of the true meaning of the ‘public + private’ living.
The need for architectural aesthetics must not overtake the need for community aesthetics. Positive architecture works together with sustainable social approaches to create inclusive green-star rated environments that work for everyone, despite of financial or social levels. So following the “cohousing community” model, social housing developments could be positively integrated with private dwellings, sharing landscapes and areas in the hope of decreasing the social stigma of living in a social housing project and living in an equal community.
62- Pascoe, S, 2010, “Another brick in the wall for public housing”, The Age, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/another-brick-in-the-wall-for-public-housing-20100726-10sjn.html>
63- Ibid;
64- Department of Human Services, History of Public Housing, viewed on 08/11/2012, found at: <http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/publichousing75years/history-of-public-housing>
65- Costello, M 2010, Design Critical in Social Housing, Domain, viewed on: 12/10/2012, found at: <http://news.domain.com.au/domain/real-estate-news/design-critical-in-social-housing-20100806-11mv0.html>
Bibliography:
Bristol, K. 1991, The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, Journal of Architectural Education, ASCA
Costello, M 2010, Design Critical in Social Housing, Domain, viewed on: 12/10/2012, found at: <http://news.domain.com.au/domain/real-estate-news/design-critical-in-social-housing-20100806-11mv0.html>
Koolhaas, R. 1995, “Bigness, or the problem of Large”, S, M, L, XL, Monacelli Press, New York
Moss, S 2011, The Death of a Housing Ideal, The Guardian, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/mar/04/death-housing-ideal>
Moore, K 2011, ‘Muggers’ Paradise’ the Heygate Estate is Demolished, BBC News, London, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13092349>
Pascoe, S, 2010, “Another brick in the wall for public housing”, The Age, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/another-brick-in-the-wall-for-public-housing-20100726-10sjn.html>
Radford, G 1996, Modern Housing for America: Policy Struggles in the New Deal Era, The University of Chicago Press, London
Photos and illustrations:
Flickr, “Fake is the new real”, 2007, Harlem River Houses, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/fakeisthenewreal/410155219/in/set-72157594569349328/>
Official Trailer - the Pruitt-Igoe Myth: an Urban History, Documentary, The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, found at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7RwwkNzF68>
Ramroth, W, 2007, Planning for Disaster: How Natural and Man-made Disasters Shape the Built Environment Kaplan Publishing, page: 166
New York City Housing Authority, NYCHA News, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/news/HRH_photogallery.shtml>
Moore, R, 2012, Pruitt-Igoe: death of the American urban dream, The Guardian, viewed on 12/10/2012, found at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/feb/26/pruitt-igoe-myth-film-review>
The Death of an architectural myth, Documentary, PBSNewshour, found at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_zFIg8N9Rw>
