Post ARfifNLQcJ0vWSX2rg by 2T2@mstdn.starnix.network
(DIR) More posts by 2T2@mstdn.starnix.network
(DIR) Post #ARf9LNfuBNIGMLq9nE by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2023-01-15T08:50:35Z
1 likes, 7 repeats
This makes me very angry.These are anti-homeless benches designed to look pleasing. It’s called hostile architecture. They’re meant to be uncomfortable to discourage sleeping on.The people who designed these are assholes. They’re decorators, not designers.A designer makes things to improve the world for everyone. A decorator takes otherwise unpalatable injustices and disguises them with aesthetics in an attempt to make them inoffensive or even desirable.Be a designer, not a decorator.
(DIR) Post #ARf9LPXTFhje8luRvM by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2023-01-15T09:02:29Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
…The benches are marketed as “Designer Book Benches” by a company called OverHertz in Bulgaria.https://www.overhertz.com/service-book-benchesHostile architecture doesn’t just exist in the physical world. Big Tech and the surveillance-based mainstream technology of Silicon Valley is concocted by decorators not designers.I once gave a talk to a roomful of designers called “Design or Decoration” where I go into the distinction further: https://ar.al/talks/#design-or-decoration#HostileArchitecture #design #decoration via @TheBapa
(DIR) Post #ARfAUUaLxVbSLu9TlI by veer66@mstdn.io
2023-01-15T09:30:11Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Where is this?
(DIR) Post #ARfJj6WearJLfDSouO by SebastienK@mastodon.social
2023-01-15T09:02:32Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral hostile architecture is indeed a real problem. But I do like this design.We could also look from another perspective: People should not be sleeping on benches. If we build benches with the idea people should be able to sleep on it we also signal that it is okay that people are homelessHostile architecture is bad but we should not be designing benches with people sleeping on it in mind. Housing is the answer, not benches 🤷🏽♂️
(DIR) Post #ARfJj7Cq413Tm3CVf6 by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2023-01-15T09:06:25Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@SebastienK Of course we should have housing (and healthcare and other social services) for all. Yet something tells me that the kind of people who commission and “design” (decorate) benches that cannot be slept on are also the kinds of people who don’t believe in a social safety net and in universal housing or healthcare.Something about being fine with cruelty and the suffering of others…
(DIR) Post #ARfKhwtR1On3SB8H6O by markrussell@masto.ai
2023-01-15T09:26:26Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Are you sure these have been designed to keep people from sleeping on them? There are much more easier ways of doing that like just adding an arm rest in the middle of the bench. To me they just look like a bench designed to look like a book. Can't really avoid a curved surface with such a design.
(DIR) Post #ARfT5URBGnzpmbeYD2 by zleap@qoto.org
2023-01-15T12:58:35Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Where is this ? I seem to remember a post of a bench in Canada that has a canopy over the top, ideal for homeless but also ideal for anyone else trying get out of the rain.Just because one is lying on a bench does not make them homeless, may be more comfortable, or relaxing, Or at night lie on a bench and watch the stars.
(DIR) Post #ARfT9D81ZAvfG5T0vA by m@martinh.net
2023-01-15T12:03:42Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@aral Where I live we have some of these book benches as a sort of tribute to a local company called Ladybird which made iconic early reader books for kids. They look great but I can confirm that they are massively uncomfortable to sit on for more than a couple of minutes! #HostileArchitecture
(DIR) Post #ARfTGSz3118ASYjCPA by zleap@qoto.org
2023-01-15T13:00:33Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@m @aral Don't just blame the designers, blame the people who allow these benches to be installed in the first place.
(DIR) Post #ARfWTKygON6pFzO0fY by iron_bug@friendica.ironbug.org
2023-01-15T13:36:16Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
this is not "hostile architecture" because benches are NOT intended for sleep. this is simply a city design, and really nice one.
(DIR) Post #ARfXY2B3ooxGLnymXo by iron_bug@friendica.ironbug.org
2023-01-15T13:47:14Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
I haven't seen anybody liking unsanitary and dirt and wanting to share a bench with homeless.
(DIR) Post #ARfYEkJS7B3xOeGsG8 by m@martinh.net
2023-01-15T13:56:10Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@zleap @aral On the flip side, I asked my local council if my company could fund some (normal!) benches in one of our green spaces, and they said... "we would be cautious in putting in seating that could possibly be damaged and could also give the youths an area to sit which is what we are trying to deter" 🧐
(DIR) Post #ARfifNLQcJ0vWSX2rg by 2T2@mstdn.starnix.network
2023-01-15T15:34:16Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@aral it's nice though, maybe it's not well designed but it's well decorated. I for one i like it. Not used in mass but just here and there just a couple of these
(DIR) Post #ARfk3zRohassbKoyMi by VikingKong@pl.starnix.network
2023-01-15T16:08:48.788985Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral Have you ever seen hobos' rookeries on benches in parks? I bet, you haven't because everyone who has thinks twice before sit on one of those benches. So I absolutely support this "anti-homeless" architecture.