hostile architecture
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.91 in modern English
29
Scrabble Score
19
Letters
5
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A type of architecture and design strategy for buildings, roads, park benches, etc, which aims to discourage homeless people, skateboarders, or others from sitting, sleeping, skateboarding or otherwise using a space, for example by covering it with spikes.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The Camden Bench is not an anomaly: more and more, our cities are being designed to keep those deemed as ‘undesirables’ out. By its very nature this is ‘hostile architecture’—urban design with a focus on exclusion, design that inhibits community and tells us who is welcome and who is not."
- "On a human level, the new facility [Moynihan Train Hall] is a disaster. Like so many other places defined by the principles of hostile architecture, there's almost nowhere to sit, lest a homeless person might find a place to take a nap."