Camden bench
The Camden bench is a type of concrete street furniture. It was commissioned by the Camden London Borough Council and installed in Camden, London, in 2012. It is designed specifically to influence the behaviour of the public by restricting undesirable behaviour and instead be usable only as a bench, a principle known as hostile architecture. Because the design is "defined far more by what it is not than what it is", the bench has been called the "perfect anti-object"[1] and a "masterpiece of unpleasant design".[2] The designers contend that: "Homelessness should never be tolerated in any society and if we start designing in to accommodate homeless then we have totally failed as a society. Close proximity to homelessness unfortunately makes us uncomfortable so perhaps it is good that we feel that and recognise homelessness as a problem rather than design to accommodate it."[3] "Feature sites" for introduction of the bench were on Great Queen Street and High Holborn.[4][5]
Produced by UK company Factory Furniture, the bench is designed to deter use for sleeping, littering, skateboarding, drug dealing, graffiti and theft.[4] It attempts to achieve this primarily through angular surfaces (deterring sleepers and skateboarders), an absence of crevices or hiding places, and non-permeable materials (via a waterproof anti-paint coating).[6] It is not secured to the ground and can be moved by a crane attaching to built-in anchor points. Due to its weight, it is also designed to function as a roadblock.[citation needed]
A Camden bench has been used as part of an installation artwork by Roger Hiorns.[3]
Awards[edit]
The design has achieved several awards:[citation needed]
- Keep Britain Tidy "Best practice street cleansing" (2010)
- Design Council "Best practice for reducing crime" (2012)
It has also been accredited as:
- Home Office "PAS68 approved" (a classification for vehicle security barriers) for counter-terrorism use.
Criticism[edit]
The Camden bench received criticism as being a prime example of a wider trend of urban design that is anti-homeless, known as hostile architecture.[7] Critics claim it is emblematic of a society where freedom in public space has been curtailed and deviance from accepted forms of behaviour has been made impossible.[1]
Located just one block away from a homeless hostel, it is definitely been seen a repellent towards anyone sleeping on it due to its unwelcoming design. Although it was introduced by Factory Furniture as an attempt to reduce anti-social behaviour and maintain cleaner streets, the idea of reducing areas for homeless to sleep has not been mentioned a great deal.[8]
Popular criticism focused on subverting restrictions imposed by the bench, such as by attempting to skateboard on it.[9]
Specifications[edit]
The technical specifications are:[10]
- Length, 270 cm (110 in)
- Width, 55 cm (22 in)
- Height, 65 cm (26 in)
- Weight, approx. 1765 kg
- Materials, exposed aggregate concrete with a galvanised steel frame
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References[edit]
- ^ a b Swain, Frank (5 December 2013). "Designing the Perfect Anti-Object". Medium.com. Retrieved 29 August 2014. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^ Swain, Frank (2 December 2013). "Secret city design tricks manipulate your behaviour". BBC – Future. Retrieved 29 August 2014. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^ a b "Interview with Factory Furniture Design Team". Unpleasant Design. Retrieved 29 August 2014. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^ a b "Camden Bench". Factory Furniture. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2016. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^ Google street view images of the bench installation "feature sites" on Great Queen Street and High Holborn, June 2012.
- ^ "The Camden Bench". Ian Visits. 2 December 2016.
- ^ Quinn, Ben (13 June 2014). "Anti-homeless spikes are part of a wider phenomenon of 'hostile architecture'". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2014. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^ Gamman, Lorraine; Willcocks, Marcus (April 2011). "The Anti-bag Theft and ASB-resistant "Camden Bench"". Design Against Crime. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - ^ Perraudin, Frances; Quinn, Ben (13 June 2014). "Can you skate on a Camden bench? – video". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2014. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^ "CAMDEN bench technical sheet" (PDF). Factory Furniture. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 29 August 2014. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)