Hostile Architecture as a Cover-Up to Affordable Housing
Hostile Architecture as a Cover-Up to Affordable Housing Written by Faith Chen Hostile architecture, also known as defensive design, is a strategy to maintain order in urban areas by restricting activities. Order includes–but is not limited to–the prevention of crime, protection of property, and curtailing the livelihoods of the homeless population. (Chellew, 2019) . According to Pinto (2020), hostile architecture is seen as a solution to health and public safety; explicit forms of defensive urban design, such as ‘anti-homeless spikes,’ may ruin the aesthetic appeal of spaces leading to hostile architecture being implemented in more subtle ways. An incident involving metal spikes in 2014 in London sparked outrage and brought awareness to the exclusive methods of social control. (Petty, 2016) . Additional examples of defensive design include benches designed to prevent lying down, skateboard deterrents (Chellew, 2019) , or any other object which aims to exclude people from a public area...