Anti-People Design

This park bench in leafy Montreal seems very comfortable, however, it is not the most comfortable bench to sleep on, since it has some curves that resist rather than accept the body. But no doubt you can sleep on it as that guy is doing. In the past year the Kings' Garden (Kongens Have) in Odense Denmark, has removed its wooden benches and replaced them with concrete cylindrical benches. These are fast-butt design. I mean you can't sit on a concrete surface for long without getting either cold or suffering from butt friction. These concrete benches also reflect a trend against nature. They are cheap and easy to maintain, but unsightly and not at all comfortable. So why on earth did they decide to litter the park with these benches? Well, the primary function was probably anti-people. They did not want homeless people, drunks, junkies or for that matter anyone, staying too long in the park as they like the trees that used to adorn the park, pose a threat to the ordinary citizen on a stroll or going to the station. Of course, nobody wants to be mugged or raped, nor do many people want to be confronted by people begging, or being obnoxious, However, some of us, in a meditative mood would like to take the time to sit and read or just look at the trees. These pleasures, of the solitary bench sitter, are gone. You now are exposed to all and sundry, and unable to relax at all - you cannot sit and rest your back - if you stay too long you will have to visit a chiropractor. So what is all this about, this anti-people design? It is targetting mostly those who need help. The unfortunates, a class which most of us avoid. However, this anti-people design of street furniture which includes toilets that are not free, sprinklers on lawns, spikes on fences, concrete defences, alarms, and generally anything that gets you to leave a space quickly - is also connected to anti-crime and anti-terrorism design. You can't throw away rubbish in some places, you can't sleep in many places, and more and more you simply can't enter a zone unless you have a credit card or belong there. Those apartheid housing estates now have armed guards to protect the American Dream of Disney values. Architects are now instructed to design buildings which can withstand explosives and a boeing jet crashing into it. Maybe the intelligent buildings of the future will class you through instant profiling. Those of a certain configuration will be denied access. What a ridiculously uncaring world we are creating, one that destroys nature because it harbours potential criminals, one that replaces natural coloured and comfortable seats with concrete blocks, so that one can sit for five minutes then move on. It is as if a neutron bomb was dropped on design.