Debating hostile architecture and its impact on our cities

2017-12-07T15:35:00-05:00

[...] hostile architecture -- a controversial type of urban design aimed at preventing people from using public spaces in undesirable ways. [...] CNN invited architect James Furzer, whose designs try to combat hostile architecture, to debate this issue with Dean Harvey, co-founder of the Factory Furniture: a company that produces many of the offending benches.

"Is it really a bad thing that you're encouraging people to hang around those spaces?," asks architect James Furzer in his CNN debate with Dean Harvey of Factory Furniture, maker of the controversial Camden bench. "Is that not what architecture and design are about? If we designed a building where people didn't want to stay for too long, because it's hostile and uncomfortable, have we succeeded in our jobs as architects? I don't think so."

Read the full debate here.

Architecture in the age of transparent hostility

2016-06-27T15:14:00-04:00

With the growing trend towards hostile architecture now openly admitting its political incentives, are we in an age of transparent hostility? [...] Whereas other instances of hostile architecture are marked by their deliberate obscurity, the Camden Bench was developed, constructed and deployed in plain sight, making it an all too visible reminder of persistent negligence, raising the question: will hostile architecture become an accepted feature of the built environment?

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Debating hostile architecture and its impact on our cities

Architecture in the age of transparent hostility