Hostile Architecture and Defensive Designs

How can a bench be designed to deter people facing homelessness?

By Miranda Shapiro 

Walking around the University of Minnesota, one could think many things: what a lovely campus, what nice buildings, what a good environment. One thing that might not cross anyone’s mind is that many University spaces are designed to deter homeless people from occupying them. If you ride the lightrail you might have been exposed to hostile architecture unknowingly. It comes in many forms and can go undetected by those unaffected. However, to those who are affected, this type of architectural design can mean going without a place to be comfortable. 

Hostile architecture is intentionally designed to prevent certain behaviors. The definition is vague because hostile architecture is mostly used to prevent people experiencing homelessness from sleeping or lying down on benches, sidewalks, and other public areas. Have you ever seen those slanted seats that you can only lean on at the East Bank metro transit station? Or benches that have seat dividers? You might think “nice, now I don’t have to sit directly next to a stranger on this bench!” But, in reality, those dividers are there to prevent people from lying down on them. 

These defensive designs target the most vulnerable people in our society, deterring them from public spaces that should be welcoming but are instead exclusive. This year, the homelessness rate in Minneapolis hit a record high of almost 11,000 people, and shelters can’t hold everyone, which means people are forced to sleep in public spaces. 

People facing homelessness experience backlash from police, getting fined for loitering and being ridiculed for sleeping in the public view on a daily basis. Cities can get away with these designs because they hide under the guise of convenience. Most people will sit on a bench that has dividers and think they’re placed to separate seats, when really they are there to deter a person from lying down. We need to change the way we shape public spaces to include displaced people. And remember that people sleeping in public aren’t causing any disruptions to society, so why should the design of city architecture disrupt them?