As a student studying to become an architect one day, one thing that really baffles me is how someone who has the design skills to create functional spaces that can enhance peoples life experiences would choose to purposefully make life difficult for those already struggling. From divisions in benches to spikes in sheltered areas, it feels completely unnecessary for designers to choose to make life so uncomfortable for people who desire to seek rest within an unoccupied space. Not only is anti-homeless architecture cruel, a complete eyesore, but it makes functionality of spaces undesirable for all other users. For example larger people may need to take up more space than allocated by the bench designer and so are also prevented from using the bench making its function therefore completely worthless. As a future designer I hope that one day I will be able to create public spaces which can create welcoming and safe sanctuaries for those most vulnerable, rather than turning them away into a perpetual cycle of feeling unwanted and unseen. – Emily James
Group 14 