I feel like we're talking past each other. I'm wondering how the weird human-shaped things added on top of the vents constitute hostile architecture - how are they meant to to discourage people from sleeping there? This is me trying to learn, I'm very aware that sleeping on vents isn't exactly comfortable but how do these things make it less so?

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 17 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I see what you're digging at, I was confused by them too. Hostile architecture meets just plain terrible design?

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 13 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Right? It looks like there was an attempt (gold star) at hostility but they still wanted it to look somewhat aesthetically pleasing and mostly forgot about the hostile part? Or maybe I'm just not seeing most of the hostile part, that's what I'm trying to figure out.

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 7 points 5 days ago

Nah I think you got it. Veiling art as hostile architecture is fairly common so I think the artist lead took over and they forgot the intent of ruining someone's ability to sleep haha

[–] anachronist@midwest.social 11 points 5 days ago

You'd probably have to lie between them instead of just looking at a photo, to assess if it's still possible.

Clearly they were put there with the intention of making it difficult/uncomfortable to lie down on the subway vent. If they were installed incompetently that doesn't make them unhostile though, it just makes them ineffective for their obviously intended purpose.

[+] davel@lemmy.ml -15 points 5 days ago (2 children)

how do these things make it less [comfortable]?

You already answered your own question:

weird human-shaped things added on top of the vents

It’s hard to believe you’re not trolling.

https://www.azuremagazine.com/article/unpleasant-design-hostile-architecture/

I also came across some inventive designs that I haven’t seen elsewhere, such as metal silhouettes soldered on top of warm ventilation exhausts at a CTrain station (below), a place where you could consider camping for the night.

Metal silhouettes prevent homeless people from sleeping over these CTrain grates in Calgary.

[–] comfy@lemmy.ml 26 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I really doubt they're trolling, it's a real question. A person can clearly fit between the gaps and sleep.

It would block things like tents and mattresses, but it's reasonable [edit: even if ignorant] to ask how it works if it doesn't obstruct a sleeping person. For what it's worth, in my city, it's rare to see tents or even mattresses, usually just blankets and shopping carts.

Try sleeping on them and report back to us.

No need for that kind of talk, it's as pointless as saying "Go there and prove you can't sleep on them".

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 20 points 5 days ago (2 children)

It’s hard to believe you’re not trolling.

I swear I'm not. It's entirely possible that I'm being slow, but I'm really just trying to understand so I can identify these things better in the future. Because I seriously don't get it, there's still plenty of room to lie down between them?

[–] shiftymccool@programming.dev 4 points 4 days ago

Part of the hostile architecture is the hostility you receive by asking about how it is hostile.

I immediately wondered the same thing so, it's not you. The angry replies are because some people are just always looking for something/someone to be mad at.

[–] davel@lemmy.ml -4 points 5 days ago (3 children)

I think you’re confusing real life homelessness with a cartoon of a drunk who lies down to sleep it off for the night.

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 22 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I assume what you're implying is that you can't put a tent there. Okay, why not fucking say that then? Homeless people around here rarely use tents, for reasons that I do not know because I am privileged enough to not be homeless, and they could probably just arrange their stuff around those shapes, put their mattress between them and go to sleep - which is why "tent" isn't the first thing that popped into my head.

Thank you for making me jump through hoops to understand a thing.

[–] Habahnow@sh.itjust.works 16 points 5 days ago

That guy is tripping.your questions are along the same as the ones I have. A lot of unhoused people I have seen don't have tents either.

[–] Elgenzay@lemmy.ml 8 points 5 days ago

Even so, you could drape a blanket over 3 of them and you've got yourself a free tent, so your question still stands. The dude's just an asshole

[–] SpermHowitzer@sh.itjust.works 10 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I have seen a lot of homeless in downtown Toronto who have a cart or backpack of belongings, and sleep directly on the subway vents with no tent. I get what the other guy is asking, I also don’t see how these metal silhouettes are going to stop someone sleeping on that grate.

[–] o_d@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 5 days ago

They won't necessarily stop someone from sleeping on them entirely. It will certainly limit how they can be slept on. I imagine the point is to make it just uncomfortable enough for homeless people to look to sleep elsewhere. I also imagine that they would completely block these off if there was a quick and reasonably aesthetically pleasing way to do so without much cost. This is simply the compromise they've come to.

[–] aport@programming.dev 4 points 5 days ago

One of the examples of hostile architecture in the OP is bars on a park bench. Is that to prevent pitching a tent too?