St. Louis

Mapping Decline: Final Reflections

Linda Tate on June 27th, 2011

For the past month, I’ve been providing highlights from Colin Gordon’s provocative study, Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City (Penn Press, 2008). This week, I want to reflect on the book and bring this discussion to a close. Mapping Decline is a heavy book. I mean that both literally and […]

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Urban Prairie

Linda Tate on January 24th, 2011

I’m intrigued by the phenomenon of the “urban prairie,” what photographer/writer Camilo Jose Vergara calls the “green ghetto.” “Urban prairie,” says Wikipedia, “is a term coined to characterize large swaths of vacant city lots, typically covered with grass or untended weeds and litter. Urban prairie results from widespread building demolition, common in areas subject to […]

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Disintegrating Buildings: Gordon Matta-Clark’s Urban Alchemy

Linda Tate on January 17th, 2011

For years, whenever I have dreamed of St. Louis, I have conjured images of buildings half-standing, half-open to the world. Invariably, the back wall of the house is missing, and I can peer right inside to the remainder of the house. There’s a mix of danger and excitement in these dreams: danger for I know […]

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