Hostile architecture is an urban design strategy intended to prevent behavior judged to be unpleasant, inappropriate, or dangerous. But its side effect is to sap the vitality of urban life
Once there were the social ideals of architecture: a discipline whose goal is to define the physical context in which we live and which can encourage socializing. While design disciplines can guarantee dignified living conditions for everyone, they also have to aspire to accessible and shared beauty. Among the outstanding examples of how the attention of architects (and clients) can be directed towards the whole community – and not just to a wealthy few – are street benches: masonry and stone street furniture that provided public seating, placed at the foot of the main or secondary faces of historic buildings. The principal Renaissance palaces in Florence, such as Palazzo Medici-Riccardi and Palazzo Strozzi are endowed with these public furnishings.
What is hostile architecture? Fast forward to the 2000s and we see the spread of an architecture whose purposes seem to be the opposite to those described above. Their goal is to make a given public place inaccessible, inhospitable and hostile. The name of this architectural trend is “hostile architecture”, “defensive architecture”, or even “unpleasant design”. It is a whole series of architectural devices – objects, furnishings, accessories or details – designed to discourage certain kinds of behavior on the part of the population, and in particular some less well-off categories – especially the homeless. Studs and spikes, bollards and dividers, as well as disturbing sounds and lights: hostile architecture creeps into existing built environments and changes their connotations.
@DrPepper12 I'd like you to look up the areas that have done this and find out if their voter base is mainly voting for Democrats. Tell me what you find out, please.
Side question... why is it they have so many homeless? ... just wondering. Do you know? It can't be because of the party of peace and love right? that spend all the money they get to fix it on themselves. I thought they cared.
Keep in mind I've already looked this shit up and I'm being sarcastic. You know it and I know it, but you hate Trump... we can leave it at that, but I still wonder why you hate Trump when you, like others, probably loved him at one time when he was a Democrat... same with Musk, the left wing's sweetheart. The flip is coming from the cream of your own crop. How is this happening? Oh no.
I'm just saying at a certain point you have to realize you didn't change. Like me. We were on the left and then the Overton window shifted, we didn't change at all. We were on the left's side but the left, it left us. #Walkaway
He was / is a racist misogynistic dickhead. His stripes have NEVER changed. EVER!! Rude, entitled, arrogant, lying, crass, cruel, smug, selfish egotistical sadistic barbaric vengeful incurious nepotistic bigoted incompetent insular moronic fuqboi!
It's not anti-homeless and it's not exactly architecture, but it is racist engineering...
When Robert Moses had the "state parkways" in the NYC metro area created, they were designed not to permit commercial vehicles (such as buses carrying poorer persons). Furthermore, to ensure that, the overpasses were designed to have insufficient clearance for such vehicles.
I grew up very near the Southern State Parkway which is one of those parkways. I have to admit that I did like driving on a road that had only cars. It wasn't until I was well into adulthood that I understood why the parkways were built like that.
These parkways and, specifically, the Southern State Parkway and Moses's racism are discussed in this article.
As leisure and recreation infrastructure—park before way—commercial traffic was excluded on all the early American parkways. This meant not only trucks, but buses. Banning big, noisy commercial vehicles was essential to the aesthetics of the parkway, and had nothing to do with racial discrimination. There would have been no need to use the bridges on the Southern State as barricades of a sort; buses were not allowed on this or any other state parkway in the first place.
But Moses was no fool. “Legislation can always be changed,” Shapiro told Caro; “It’s very hard to tear down a bridge once it’s up.” So did Moses use cement and stone to effectively backstop the vehicular exclusion policy, insuring that the Southern State could never be used to schlep busloads of poor folk to Jones Beach?
I decided to test this by comparing bridge clearances on the Southern State to those on the three earlier Westchester roads.
...
Overall, clearances are substantially lower on the Moses parkway, averaging just 107.6 inches (eastbound), against 121.6 inches on the Hutchinson and 123.2 inches on the Saw Mill. Even on the Bronx River Parkway—a road championed by an infamous racist, Madison Grant, author of the 1916 best seller The Passing of the Great Race—clearances averaged 115.6 inches. There is just a single structure of under eight feet (96 inches) clearance on all three Westchester parkways; on the Southern State there are four.
Private property yes. On public no. I used to think it was nice that they had armrests on each chair as some parks as opposed to just a bench. Anyway, I would prefer the root cause to be dealt with and get people in some sort of structure to protect them from the elements. I am furious that the Democrats claim to want to help such people and then we find out the steal the money and piss away the rest. I am convinced that those in Congress are shitty people and I am sure there are many Republicans as well.
But let’s fix the problem. Small houses in well maintained areas could work. The problem with public housing is that some people treat it and their neighbors horribly. Those people need to be thrown out immediately or charged of appropriate and not just by police, but by an elected neighborhood oversight board of people who live there. There also needs to be training for various trades there as well as other jobs such as restaurant work, hotel work, office work, security guard work, and more along with access to job listings and certifications. These certifications need to have meaning and cannot just be handed out. The people with them need to be qualified and ready. If they can’t do the job or can’t get to work in time with a good attitude then no certificate from the program. We could have all of this now but the politicians have destroyed us to a great degree by stealing the money and dividing us as people. That must be fixed first.
Why is this any different than having to put warning labels on everything we buy or use, just because some knucklehead can't use the common sense they were born with? Besides, do you think a few spikes will stop anyone? They will just consider it a bigger challenge and do it anyway for them likes they will get on YouTube or TikTok. You know the phrase - play stupid games, win stupid prizes. You can't fix stupid.
I know how hard it is for these fellow Americans to dig themselves out of debt. It is easier to find yourself (as an average American) going into debt than it is to dig yourself out of it. I mentioned without money or connections it is harder if not nearly impossible to apply for an interview, have proper transportation, a phone, have a skill to utilize for the workforce, get hands on a nice professional outfit to be hired, etc. When you are homeless and on your own - you can’t get these things so you remain in debt.
Well homeless people could get out of debt by declaring bankruptcy and many of them probably already have. Homeless people don't have any assets to seize so bankruptcy wouldn't really change anything for them. The rest of the stuff you said was true though.
@Jackblue Okay so… Homeless people are still homeless after declaring personal bankruptcy though. It isn’t a ‘get out of jail free card’. The govt doesn’t automatically feel sympathy to hand you $100,000 check or something…. You are on your own. As you said everything else I said was true, okay so they still can’t live a “normal life”.
"Hostile architecture is an urban design strategy intended to prevent behavior judged to be unpleasant, inappropriate, or dangerous. But its side effect is to sap the vitality of urban life"
This ^ is the first paragraph of the linked article. But given the reality of urban life in many places today, what is really sapping the vitality is being overrun with rampant homelessness. I don't live there now, but grew up in California in an area where this is now the norm.
My old 'hood
When I go home to visit family and friends now, it's heartbreaking to see what has become of my old neighborhood. Talk about sapping the vitality.
It's sad that we have to resort to such extreme measures, but that's the reality now. I 100% support local governments doing it, and statements supporting it.
It is unfortunate for the homeless people, but on the other hand I can understand why small business owners would have a problem with them and it isn't necessarily that they are disgusted by them. Small businesses have a limited chance of surviving. The owners are scared that if they allow homeless people to sleep outside they will scare off snobby customers and said owners will end up homeless themselves.
I guess it’s ok on private property but public property should be more welcoming but a few bad apples ruined it for the rest of us when it comes to hostile architecture
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It sucks but when you have liberals making the rules this is what you get. Would it be better seeing winos sleeping on those benches or hordes of junkies shooting up.
Home > Society & Politics > Polls > What are your thoughts on "hostile architecture" / anti-homeless design? Is it worth it? Would you install it on your urban property? Why / why not?
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