Hostile Architecture: Antagonism Incarnate

Hostile architecture is a form of design found in public places meant to dissuade certain acts, like sitting in areas that apparently shouldn’t be sat on, or doing skateboard tricks on them. In recent times, however, hostile architecture has mostly been associated with antagonizing members of the houseless community, who often find themselves having to sleep outside. Sometimes these modifications are subtle, like placing individual armrests between spots on public benches, or just flat-out removing the spaces between seating areas on those benches. But in other instances, it’s things like putting spikes in places that people might be inclined to sleep on. 

Money is invested into building something purely to antagonize a community, instead of investing in potential solutions to their situation which necessitates them needing to reside in public areas. Hostile architecture, as it exists in our modern world, seems to consist of directed attacks toward the houseless community, under the guise of protecting the area from undesirable behavior (i.e. “Defensive Architecture”, as it’s sometimes called), and doesn’t provide any long-term solutions. All it does is say “you’re not welcome here, go somewhere else”, and refuses to provide a “somewhere else” to go to. 

Sources:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/nyregion/hostile-architecture-nyc.html 
• https://www.streetroots.org/news/2019/06/07/you-are-not-welcome-here-anti-homeless-architecture-crops-nationwide 
• https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/hostile-architecture  

Published by: Alex Ehlers