Seminar Project: Design Crime

Feliks Cherniavskii, Tomas Alejandro Martínez Diaz, Cindy Valeska Gonzalez Vargas,

Kana Hiraoka, Ricardo Perea Guzman

English school of Canada

August 13, 2020

 Introduction

The article “ Design crimes: How 'hostile architecture' is quietly hurting our cities” by Mira Adler-

Gillies claims that hostile architecture is a type of urban design that has different forms and its aim is to

make people feel uncomfortable and avoid social contact. Moreover, the author argues that designs such as

spikes on the ground show inequalities between different segments of the population, which according to

Adler-Gillies is considered disgusting.  The main objective of this design is to evict the homeless and any

other person or groups of people who are not welcomed.  These benches are strategically installed in

different parts of the city in order to prevent people relaxing on the benches and providing meetings for a

long period. 

Key ideas
  
 Disciplinary and Design crime This type of concept is not new, and it is very common that

it is used in public spaces to control interactions within society. Destroy attractive views of

urban design 

 Hostile architecture and design control people so that they cannot spend their time there

comfortably 

 Hostile design, building makes on attractive place     

 Public space is private most of the spaces in big cities are no longer public and these public

spaces have become property for companies (Malcolm Mackay).

 Hostile architecture is a means of distinguishing people  

 Hostile architecture and design are unequal for the homeless and the gap between rich and

poor
Critique 1: “What we think of as public spaces that make up modern cities are actually
private spaces or semi-private spaces.” 

 People must respect each other.  People should not harm the lives of others with the city's

architecture.

 The main purpose to protect the public spaces and turn private is to get a better quality of life

and preserve these places.

 comverting public spaces into private is improving some people’s live, but it's a distractor for

the homeless people problem.

 The economical interes of private sector for be the owners of the spaces is excluing the

homeless because don’t generate venefices for them.

Critique 2: “There has been some lazy thinking by some local governments that have said
that 'that's what the private sector are doing, we should be doing that too’ 
                       rather than having a more encompassing view of society”.

 The government spends a lot of money on hostile architecture in order to avoid homeless,

instead of finding a solution for them.

 Hostile architecture consumes a large amount of national money and makes people's lives

more straggle, and the city is flooded with hostile architecture.

 Both the government and the private sector are trying to make people have a false sensation of

security and tranquility, because they want that people forget the social inequality problems

that is facing the city

 • The governor is trying that the people think that his actions make the homeless problem

disappear, but only the people are moving to other places, while the problem still present.
 Reference

Bentham open ( 2018, April) Public spaces and private spaces open to the public

https://teams.microsoft.com/_?tenantId=23830b38-6bb4-4ad8-9733-
8eb9b1440861#/conversations/General?
threadId=19:8828bd9d12c1480fb86ecc24c86068f2@thread.tacv2&messageId=1597282658080&replyCha
inId=1597277495235&ctx=channel

The conversation (2020) Explainer: What is public spaces and why does it need protecting

https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-public-space-and-why-does-it-need-protecting-121692

Elizabeth, k (2019, August, 14) A field Guide weapons of hostile Architecture in NYC.

https://gothamist.com/news/a-field-guide-to-the-weapons-of-hostile-architecture-in-nyc

Rachel, K (2018, March, 19) Brisbane’s Queens Wharf development accused of anti-homeless architecture.

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/brisbanes-queens-wharf-development-accused-of-anti-homeless-
architecture/