negative appropriation

Who really owns space? It has existed since the dawn of time, long before any of we humans appeared upon the scene. As a species we were nomadic, only developing permanent settlements with the invention of agriculture in the Neolithic Age, laying claim to lands once roamed freely by the entirety of nature.

A movement of ‘Designing out crime’ (Grindon, G. 2015) has become an epidemic within our cities. Instead of putting money into helping people ‘stay off the streets’, private as well as governmental investors have put money into the design of temporary linger space with the aim of making a space seem public and welcome, but subtly rejecting visitors wanting to prolong the experience. They are places to move through, being antisocial in their nature, with the aim to stop people gathering at a space.

Figure 12 Anti user seating, oxford,

Take bus shelters for example, if you look at an older design, bus shelters were purely designed to house those waiting for their long (delayed) awaited bus, now however they are less sheltered, greater advertised (thanks to the sponsorship agreement with JCDecaux advertisers and local councils to fund the shelters in exchange for free advertising) and less welcoming. The once ‘luxurious’ benches have now been replaced by a perching bar. Ignoring the less-abled who may have dire need of a rest (i.e. the elderly) in favour of quick movement and the rejection of lingering space. Other forms of age-focused antisocial design can be found in the ‘Mosquito’ and pink lighting ideas, both aimed at removing young people by irritating sounds or unflattering acnehighlighting light. Many anti-human designs were originally created as a means for controlling cattle, such as ankle-monitors. “Pigeon spikes were introduced to London around 1980 after pigeons’ status shifted from messenger to vermin [and] human anti-sitting spikes appeared on lower ledges by 1985” (Grindon, G. 2015).

“These designs which enclose and exclude also map neoliberalism’s move from colonial enclosure to the domestic ‘new enclosures’ of privatisation and ‘deregulation’. As border fences make Europe a gated community against migrants from former colonies, antihomeless spikes keep the domestic victims of austerity out of sight. In 2014, the police ‘national barrier asset’ kept people protesting against war away from a NATO summit in Wales. This year[2015], the same fence was sent to Calais to keep out people migrating, most of whom were fleeing conflict in Syria and other African countries.” (Grindon, G. 2015).

In regards to the things we leave behind, these miniature, negative interruptions leave a culture of distrust and selfishness. It shows a lack of desire to actively help, but hinder for the aesthetic of space. We design to make the beautiful, therefore we must design to remove the unsightly from our view. Be it the elderly, the young, the homeless or just those want to enjoy a space like skateboarders. However local people have taken action against this sense of distrust and created their own versions of bus shelters and benches:

Figure 13 Unst Bus shelter, Shetland Islands, UK. The locals embraced the wait for the bus and made the shelter a ‘home away from home’.

Figure 14 “What will this do to my property prices” Calling themselves ‘Better than Spikes’these artists created a bed and a library for homeless and other local people to use. However, if it wasn’t for these negative appropriations of space, would we see these types of positive counter appropriations appearing in our streets?

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