A Tour Of Social Housing Revival In North America

The facade has been removed from the concrete box rooms of a public housing high rise. The colors that tenants have painted the rooms are now revealed
When it was built, this Regent Park public housing high-rise in Toronto earned a Massey Medal for Architecture. In 2015, the time of this picture, the building could have been renovated from this point, or torn down.

The demolitions of Cabrini Green in Chicago and Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis, two very large public housing projects, reflect decisions made by people who had never lived there. Some architects (also non-residents) joined the pro-demolition side of the argument. That’s some architects but by no means all. A pair of French architects recently won a significant prize for their renovation of a public housing project in Paris1.

As the following story in Azure relates, there are architects who are more than willing to follow suit. The article includes examples in the United States and Canada. One involves renovating while tenants continue to live in the building. In another, the tenants selected the architectural firm that planned and designed the renovation. In yet another, a new family resource centre provided a focus for a large group of townhouses that are isolated from other neighbourhoods in the city.

The authors, Stefan Novakovic and Tura Cousins Wilson, note that renovation is not a universal panacea. But one reason that it may become more attractive is the environmental savings that accrue when an old building is renovated rather than demolished. The London School of Economics has completed a report about the environmental savings of renovation for a social housing provider in the U.K. Try: Your Affordable Home Is Falling Down. Sorry, It Can’t Be Fixed. You Have To Move. Not.

And ultimately, there’s a decision to be made about the value of public housing (whether new or renovated). The authors note both political commitment and public funding are essential.

There’s lots more in this article at AZURE: (Almost) Never Demolish: Reviving Social Housing Through Preservation

Footnotes

  1. Try: Public Housing, “Reverence For Pre-Existing Structures” Captures Architecture’s Top Prize

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