Hostile architecture

"Defensive architecture" redirects here. It is not to be confused with fortification.
Camden benches in London, examples of hostile design

Hostile architecture is a controversial urban design trend in which public spaces are constructed or altered to discourage people from using them in a way not intended by the owner.[1] Also known as defensive architecture it is most typically associated with discrimination against the homeless in the form of "anti-homeless spikes" – studs embedded in flat surfaces to make sleeping rough impractical.[2][3]

Other forms of behaviour which are commonly designed against by hostile architecture include skateboarding, littering, loitering and urination which are deterred with methods including "... slanting windowsills to stop people sitting, benches with armrests that make it impossible to lie down, or sprinklers that intermittently come on but aren't really watering anything."[4] Although the term "hostile architecture" is recent, the use of civil engineering to achieve social engineering is not;[5] antecedents include 19th Century "urine deflectors".[6]

...In addition to anti-skateboard devices, with names such as "pig's ears" and "skate stoppers", ground-level window ledges are increasingly studded to prevent sitting, slanting seats at bus stops deter loitering and public benches are divided up with armrests to prevent lying down. To that list, add jagged, uncomfortable paving areas, CCTV cameras with speakers and "anti-teenager" sound deterrents...

Ben Quinn, 2014[7]

Critics of hostile architecture argue that it makes "contrarianism" impossible,[8] that it replaces public space with "commercial or pseudo-public spaces" and uses "architecture to enforce social divisions".[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "hostile architecture". Macmillan Dictionary. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Omidi, Maryam (12 June 2014). "Anti-homeless spikes are just the latest in 'defensive urban architecture'". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Andreou, Alex (18 February 2015). "Anti-homeless spikes: ‘Sleeping rough opened my eyes to the city’s barbed cruelty’". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Mills, Chris (21 February 2015). "How 'Defensive Architecture' Is Ruining Our Cities". Gizmodo. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  5. ↑ Swain, Frank (2 December 2013). "Secret city design tricks manipulate your behaviour". BBC.
  6. ↑ Lee, Jackson (23 July 2013). "Urine Deflectors in Fleet Street". The Cat's Meat Shop. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  7. ↑ Quinn, Ben (13 June 2014). "Anti-homeless spikes are part of a wider phenomenon of 'hostile architecture'". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Swain, Frank (5 December 2013). "Designing the Perfect Anti-Object". Medium. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Shea, Michael (5 August 2014). "On the frontline: The architectural policing of social boundaries". Discover Society. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
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