Student Op-Ed Takes on the Issue of ‘Hostile Architecture’ in Cities
“sectioned benches, sub-highway or road spikes or metal studs around fountains or walkways”
Do you ever just sit around and think about the hostility of architecture?
The College Fix reports:
Student op-ed: ‘Hostile architecture’ in cities needs to be eliminated
At a time when America’s big cities, virtually a progressive Democratic monopoly, are suffering from rampant crime not seen in three decades, a Bucknell University student is concerned about their “hostile architecture.”
The main issue is the architecture’s effects on the homeless, Ramón Batista writes in The Bucknellian.
“Hostile architecture,” Batista says, is “sectioned benches, sub-highway or road spikes or metal studs around fountains or walkways.” These “anti-homeless” constructs are an “urban design strategy” by which “certain structures or features of a space are built for the sole purpose of restricting certain kinds of occupation.”
Subway benches which have arm rests in between prevent the homeless from using them as beds, and hence relegate vagrants to the ground. (Why should taxpaying citizens of the city expect a place to sit down while waiting for the train to go to work? You know, so they can pay those taxes?)
A resident of Boston, Batista says he sees hostile architecture all over and considers it an example of an “us vs. them mentality.” If we’re not building houses for the homeless, he says, why then can’t they sleep on benches? Why inconvenience the elderly and pregnant female-identifying persons with uncomfortable slanted chairs? Why can’t skateboarders “grind” on buildings without the inconvenience of “metal notches” and railings?
Having hostile architecture designs creates an overall unwelcoming environment for the community. As governments and businesses use this urban design strategy it creates a less convenient environment for people. It is unethical that the government push away homeless rather than confront the root of the issue. Rather than trying to make the public city spaces available and accessible to all of the community, hostile architecture removes the ability to do that successfully.
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Comments
The only hostility I see in today’s architecture is the fact that everything is a box. Nothing has any real form, shape, or design. Then again, I’m one who thinks that the Chrysler building is a true classic. What do I know?
I believe I’ve only seem two pieces of hostile architecture in my entire life.
One was a gallows.
The other was Nancy Pelosi’s concertina-wire fence.
Take a look at the FBI headquarters. Another one, if I’m thinking of the right building,
This kid has a bright future in Democrat politics. He’s not quite angry enough but he’s definitely obtuse enough.
I predict that someday he will vote to defund the police in every neighborhood but his own.
This student should be asked what he would do if he was the victim of a violent crime committed by such a homeless person.
skateboarding is not a harmless activity on those metal railings. He should spend some time in a welding or machining shop to make those railings. Maybe some time on a construction site pouring concrete, and reviewing the cost of such structures.
One of the reasons I am making my kids learn the drywall as we remodel our home is so they understand the time and expertise cost of their walls and rooms.
not to mention the inevitable lawsuit for negligence if some SJW skateboarder gets injured when the city doesn’t make those railings “grind proof”
This is what I have noticed the most about Portland over the last 25, and in particular, the last 5 years. More and more doorways are being sealed off by iron fences and gates, yards are being closed off by fences that are progressively more aggressive, to the point of bottle bottoms being cemented in place along the top. My neighborhood church has done a wonderful job with ornate wrought iron work, and those sharp pointy tops are both pleasing and deadly. And just as someone recently asked me if i was carrying a firearm, I said “no.” I am carrying two. Plus pepperspray and a collapsible baton. And my go-to website in the morning before LI is active self protection. Hopefully I will e back East before it happens, but every day I see an increased probability that mental illness is going to meet metal.
Is there no end to this dumbassery? That’s rhetorical guys … it’s clear there isn’t.