Arts & Culture
Institutional Aesthetics and the Design of Social Environments
Quick fact
In the 1970s, the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex in St. Louis was demolished just 20 years after opening, partly because its design isolated residents and encouraged crime—a stark lesson in how architecture can foster social breakdown.
Why this is interesting
You walk into a building and immediately feel calm or anxious, empowered or watched—without knowing why. What hidden design choices are shaping your experience?