Controversy of Anti-Homeless Architecture

Homeless in America

The Reality

Artists Statement:

In my drawing, I represent the stark contrast between the homeless and the comfortable middle/high-class population. This visual hopes to highlight the social injustice that casts a long and ominous shadow on the lives of those who experience homelessness.

The tents symbolize fragility beneath the high-rise buildings, housing the wealthy who see the homeless on their sidewalks as nuisances. This contrast conveys the humanity of the homeless and the challenges they face in a society that turns a blind eye to their struggles.

Not only does society turn a blind eye, but they take the lack of empathy a step further, instilling anti-homeless architecture or hostile design. Hostile designs are benches or other public structures that are designed and engineered in a way that prevents the homeless population from seeking shelter or sleeping on these spaces. On average, cities spend an average of $31,065 per year on installing hostile designs. This takes into account the work and costs of having to redesign benches, sidewalks, walkways, and other basic structures. At some point, we have to sit back and ask ourselves if this funding can be used to aid the homeless population rather than degrade and punish them for trying to survive. 

These designs are proposed by city representatives, and designed by architects. My visual hopes to represent the wealthy representatives and those who turn blind eyes living comfortably in the high-rise buildings, overlooking the homeless, and conjuring ideas of how to rid them rather than help.

Works Cited:

Knight, Ben. "Defensive Architecture: Design at Its Most Hostile." UNSW Newsroom, 12 Aug. 2020, newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/art-architecture-design/defensive-architecture-design-its-most-hostile.

Mitchell, Don. The Annihilation of Space by Law: The Roots and ... - Wiley Online Library, 1997, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8330.00048.

Moatasim, Faiza. Safe Storage and Parking Lots: Anti-Homeless Laws and Homeless Service ..., 2021, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02723638.2023.2169502.

"Refugee and Migrant Health." World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 2022, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/refugee-and-migrant-health.

Silva, Daniella. "Chicago Scrambles to House Migrants as Winter Approaches." NBCNews.Com, NBCUniversal News Group, 2023, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chicago-scrambles-house-migrants-winter-approaches-rcna125581.

Westbrook, Marisa, and Tony Robinson. "Unhealthy by Design: Health & Safety Consequences of the Criminalization of Homelessness." Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness, 2021, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10530789.2020.1763573.