RUIN|REPLACE
As one can see, the figure-ground has been ravaged. While the destruction of underutilized and abandoned buildings is not inherently bad, it is not beneficial if there is nothing done to replace or improve upon what was demolished. In this sense, the destruction is nothing short of erasure. Downtown St. Louis has recognized this, and desires a return to the feeling of the past; this need not be a literal interpretation. In the Garment District, for example, there are efforts to recreate the feeling of early twentieth century St. Louis - much of which is destroyed. In order to capture this feeling, one would need to rebuild the program of that time period. Thus, there is a need for restaurants, city living, shopping, and entertainment.21 Logically, it is safe to assume much of this restoration would fill the voids in the figure-ground.
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