Design with Intent

Anti-homeless ’stools’

By Dan Lockton ⋅ December 18, 2008 ⋅ 6 comments

Stuart Candy of the brilliant Sceptical Futuryst let me know about authorities in Honolulu replacing benches with round ’stools’ to prevent homeless people sleeping at bus stops (above image from Honolulu Advertiser story):
So far, the city has spent about $11,000 on the seating initiative, removing benches and installing 55 stools at 12 bus stops in [...]

Discriminatory architecture

By Dan Lockton ⋅ July 4, 2008 ⋅ 6 comments

The entries in B3ta’s current image challenge, ‘Fat Britain’, include this amusing take on anti- $USER_CLASS benches by monkeon.
(There’s also this, using a slightly different discriminatory architecture technique – don’t click if you’re likely to be offended, etc, by B3ta’s style.)

“Steps are like ready-made seats” (so let’s make them uncomfortable)

By Dan Lockton ⋅ May 30, 2008 ⋅ 46 comments

Adrian Short let me know about something going on in Sutton, Surrey, at the same time both fundamentally pathetic and indicative of the mindset of many public authorities in ‘dealing with’ emergent behaviour:
An area in Rosehill, known locally as “the steps”, is to be re-designed to stop young people sitting there.
Not only will the steps [...]

“It’s a weak society that sees removing them as the solution”

By Dan Lockton ⋅ February 9, 2008 ⋅ 2 comments

Following on from our recent look at the strategic design of public benches, BBC London’s Jimmy Tam let me know about this story in the Camden New Journal:
A public bench has been removed from outside West Hampstead Library [photo from Pashmin@'s Flickr] after it became a magnet for street drinkers.
The Town Hall now plan [...]

Towards a Design with Intent ‘Method’ – v.0.1

By Dan Lockton ⋅ January 5, 2008 ⋅ 11 comments

As mentioned a while back, I’ve been trying to find a way to classify the numerous ‘Design with Intent’ and architectures of control examples that have been examined on this site, and suggested by readers. Since that post, my approach has shifted slightly to look at what the intent is behind each example, and hence [...]

(Anti-)public seating roundup

By Dan Lockton ⋅ July 24, 2007 ⋅ 13 comments

Single-occupancy benches in Helsinki. Photo by Ville Tikkanen
Ville Tikkanen of Salient Feature points us to the “asocial design” of these single-person benches installed in Helsinki, Finland. In true Jan Chipchase style, he invites us to think about the affordances offered:
As you can see, the benches are located a few meters away from each other and [...]

Lean or mean?

By Dan Lockton ⋅ July 16, 2007 ⋅ 8 comments

Image from a flyer by Joscelyn Bingham.
The Lean Seat bench, by Joscelyn Bingham, a graduating 3D Design student from University College Falmouth, is a ‘traditionally’ styled slatted wooden alternative to the (usually) unattractive anti-sit perches often found in public places. Note: the surface of the seat is very definitely tilted, and while the slats certainly [...]

The Terminal Bench

By Dan Lockton ⋅ July 6, 2007 ⋅ 18 comments

Mags L Halliday – author of the Doctor Who novel History 101 – let me know about an ‘interesting’ design tactic being used at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. From the Guardian, by Julia Finch:
Flying from the new Heathrow Terminal 5 and facing a lengthy delay? No worries. Take a seat and enjoy the spectacular views through [...]

Deliberately creating worry

By Dan Lockton ⋅ June 15, 2007 ⋅ 5 comments

Swedish creativity lecturer Fredrik Härén mentions an interesting architecture of control anecdote in his The Idea Book:
One of the cafés in an international European airport was often full. The problem was that people sat nursing their coffees for a long time as they waited for their planes to depart. The café asked itself: How can [...]

Anti-user seating in Oxford

By Dan Lockton ⋅ March 6, 2007 ⋅ 23 comments

Top two photos: A bench on Cornmarket Street, Oxford; Lower two photos: A bus stop seat perch on Castle Street.
While from a very narrow specification point-of-view ‘they do their job’, what utter contempt for users these two seating examples demonstrate! The benches on Cornmarket Street are clearly intended to prevent anyone lying down on them [...]

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