Author: Cindy (Page 2 of 10)

While walking down a bustling area of Manhattan trying to make your way around the city, if you glance over to your right and see metal balls and spikes on the ground, it is nothing out of the ordinary. You don’t think too much of it. It’s there and it doesn’t affect you in any way. But what if you take the time to stop and contemplate about why it is there?

What comes to your mind?

Is it just there because someone decided to install this type of architecture?

What was the reasoning behind it?

If someone were to tell you about how certain types of architecture inconveniences the homeless, it may help you put two things together, and something that you thought had no connection suddenly correlates with one another.

Hostile architecture or also known as anti-homeless architecture is interesting because it is not a commonly known issue. New York City has a large homeless population, and it is likely that wherever you go, you are bound to see people heckling, loitering and sleeping outdoors. The best way to increase awareness of an issue is to first be, of course, aware of the issue and then to learn about what it is. Change can start at any moment, starting with one person, which is why I chose to target community members – young children attending school, working adults and the elderly too. Writing a short informative essay allows readers to learn exactly what anti-homeless architecture is, why it exists, and how someone can help the homeless population. The internet provides easy access to the article, and parts of the article can be printed and posted around a community with little to no effort to help spread awareness. There is no need to stop someone on the street and start a 10-minute conversation with them, as the pictures itself should raise curiosity within someone. The various photos and diverse types of benches depicted show that architectural designs are harmful and found all over the world. The article along with the photos should be thought provoking and raise the question, why? Why are things like this? Why is harmful architecture widely accepted throughout major cities? Even if you think that anti-homeless architecture does not affect you personally, you can still help the homeless community without changing much of your daily life. The homeless community is a part of our community. It may be hard convincing one to care about anti-homeless architecture because they are unlikely to be majorly affected by it, but by informing people about ways to give back, maybe one day, they’ll decide to volunteer at a soup kitchen, donate to food pantries, or maybe support a local business that gives back to the community.

While walking past a bustling area of Manhattan, trying to make your way around the city, if you glance over to your right and see metal balls and spikes on the street, it is nothing out of the ordinary. You don’t think too much of it, it’s there and it doesn’t affect you in any way. But when you take the time to stop and contemplate about why it is there, what comes to your mind? Is it just there because someone decided to install this type of architecture? What was the reasoning behind it? If someone were to tell you about how certain architecture inconveniences the homeless, it may help you put two things together. And something that you thought had no connection suddenly correlates with one other. Defensive architecture, or anti-homeless architecture is not a commonly known issue. What made me interested in this topic is the amount of homeless people that reside in NYC. It is likely that wherever you go around the city, you are bound to see people heckling, loitering and sleeping around. The best way to increase awareness of an issue is to first be, of course aware of the issue and then to learn about what it is. To inform people about anti-homeless architecture, it requires them to be educated on what the problem is and what can be done to help. Change can start at any moment, starting with one person. A simple piece of paper with pictures can be very informative for people who are always rushing and on the move in the city. It can be posted around a community like on store windows with little no to effort. A leaflet is easy to read and is portable. There is no need to stop someone on the street and start a 10-minute conversation with them. The pictures itself should raise curiosity within someone. The various photos and diverse types of benches depicted show that architectural designs are harmful and found all over the world. The point of a condensed piece of paper with pictures of anti-homeless defensive architecture is to raise the question, why? Why are things like this? Even if you think it does not affect you personally, there are ways that you can help the homeless community without changing much of your daily life. It may be hard convincing one to care about anti-homeless architecture because they are unlikely to be majorly affected by it, but by informing people about ways to give back, maybe one day, they’ll decide to volunteer at a soup kitchen, donate to food pantries, or maybe support a local business that gives back to the community.