Defensive Architecture and its Hostility

The typical person may not notice the metal bars splitting benches, tiny spikes on railings, or spikes under bridges, but to someone experiencing homelessness, these details deny sleep or even just shelter from the elements. For example, this video by Vox details the implementation of “leaning bars” in New York City subway stations that prevent people from laying down to rest. The goal of these structures is to force the unhoused out of public spaces and to hide the existing poverty in a city. Instead of finding solutions to the root of the socio-economic problem that homelessness it, cities use valuable resources to keep people out of sight. Moreover, defensive architecture not only prevents the unhoused from lying down or building permanent shelters on benches or in other public spaces, it also could prevent people with disabilities, pregnant women, the elderly, and many more from fully utilizing them.