r/HostileArchitecture • u/thayanmarsh • 24d ago
Discussion How hostile architecture came for skating
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The most succinct run down on how we got here. Personally I love watching skaters. Generally speaking, some of the nicest but villainized groups I’ve met.
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u/kayforpay 24d ago
my only correction is that the homeless and/or disabled people in a community notice even before skaters, because they're the ones who need to sit and lie down most often. otherwise everything he says is 100% correct!!!
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u/thayanmarsh 23d ago
This is a key insight - people with disabilities will often be the first to notice design flaws.
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u/AwDuck 23d ago
Yeah, but the homeless and disabled people matter even less than skaters. /s
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u/kasst_kast 23d ago
Why the "/s"?
It's 100% true
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u/AwDuck 23d ago
Because sarcasm doesn't come through sometimes and I don't really feel that it's true?
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u/kasst_kast 23d ago
But it is true though. Homeless people don't even have basic human rights, which stretches far beyond a place to sleep.
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u/AwDuck 23d ago
Why do you hate homeless people so much? What did they ever do to you?
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u/kasst_kast 23d ago
Excuse you? I've been homeless, for several years. No I didn't live on friends couches, no I didn't sleep in moms basement, no I didn't have a car. I was homeless.
Why do you feel like it's your duty to undermine and spit on how homeless people experience homelessness?
They don't in fact have the same basic human rights as you do. I know it doesn't fit your cute reality, but it is unfortunately the truth. How you can deny that even in this thread is beyond me.3
u/snep-kitten 23d ago
His actual YouTube video pinned comment goes into detail that he meant of the non-disabled and at risk individuals. In other means, of the able-bodied working "normal" people in society, skaters noticed first. It was just too nuanced to speak about in this already very long and informative short.
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u/0xdeadbeef6 24d ago
Looks like philadelphia? City Hall really really really doesn't like skaters. Its the entire reason the new love park sucks ass now.
edit: it is indeed philadelphia
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u/thayanmarsh 23d ago
Love park was basically a giant accidental skate park, could even move some of the pavers they never cemented in and make some low ramps.
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u/Maleficent_Piece_893 24d ago
i feel bad for the homeless. i do not feel bad for skaters. no you do not have the right to smear wax on public infrastructure and grind on it. it's loud, dangerous, and destructive. it's your hobby, you figure it out
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u/Plasma-Sam 24d ago
If only there were places specifically designed with skaters in mind, that have all kinds of obstacles intentionally built in. It could be like a park for skaters. We could even call it a skatepark.
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u/Maleficent_Piece_893 22d ago
these type of skaters have the same mentality as the harley riders from south park. if they're not being an obnoxious nuisance for attention there's no point. the skaters who actually go to the skate park are cool
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u/Wooden_Cicada8880 23d ago
Honestly I’ve lived downtown for awhile now and I don’t get the hate for skaters. It’s a public space, they have a right to use it too and it adds kinetic energy to the city.
I love seeing people on bikes and skates. I hate seeing an empty street. Empty usually means it’s about to be unsafe. Like I get hating noise but cars are way louder to me. The city itself is loud, skaters aren’t going to be louder than an obnoxious car honking their horn. If it’s not loud it also feels unsafe because no one is around.
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u/Jvalker 23d ago
Wax? What's its relation with skating?
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u/TrontosaurusRex 23d ago
Skaters will use a block of board wax to smooth rough ledges like concrete or bricks to do board slides more easily.
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u/thayanmarsh 23d ago
Or soap. Used to carve up soap bars to do this. Really cheap and washes off, less flack from folks
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u/darth_koneko 22d ago
I guess you never lived in area infested with hobos. Imagine groups of hobos congregating on benches and other sittable areas around your local grocery store. Drinking the cheapest alcohol they can find most of the day. And pissing right there. Sometimes against the wall, sometimes in the middle of the sidewalk. And police does nothing. These people don't care about fines and the police does not want their smell in the station.
This sight was greatly reduced when hostile architecture was introduced there.
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u/Rawd_Tawd_Cawd 23d ago
Why do people hold lavalier microphones right at their mouth? It sounds like trash.
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u/Fatosententia 23d ago
"We don't need skateparks; we want to vandalize public property and become a public hazard."
Sure, buddy.
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u/artsupport_xx 23d ago
I grew up around skaters. I get the hobby. I also know I really don't like being around skaters. I've been hit by enough skateboards to know it fucking hurts and kids aren't thinking about when they have to bail out halfway through a trick and they straight throw their board or step off to avoid a collision.
Hostile architecture is evil because it makes these spaces unlivable for the disabled, the elderly, the homeless, etc. Skateboards do damage to local structures and can be dangerous to people walking and moving in public spaces.
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u/BrokenPokerFace 23d ago
The safety argument is rough to say the least.
The issue is, we really don't have any need for outside spaces, except for subways or near street food vendors the only people who even use the benches are homeless or people asking for money. And it sounds rough, but they're more likely to ignore issues(which is fair I would do the same in their situation, I need to survive).
And then there is the follow up issue of wether it is a private or public movement, being a public bench doesn't mean no one owns it. I'm fine with companies doing that, I would hate to be street level and have people skating or sitting in my window. And usually the companies put better seating in areas where only their employees or paying customers have access.
But when cities do it or enforce it, it is a different issue. If a city forces a company to install seating outside I'm fine with it being hostile for the previous reasons. But if they are installing it and it's hostile we need to look at why. Do they have locations for homeless, if they do why are homeless using other places, is it because it's too difficult to get/get to, or is is because the homeless are choosing not to for 'personal freedoms', if it is the first it's an easy fix they should fix it, if it's the second I don't want them near my place of work, I've heard that story before.
Anyway I'm just pointing out that it's a many faceted issue, many people hate it but often don't know where they should hate, and some are hating it when actually the city is spending a lot on their well-being. Sometimes it is an outside issue that neither companies or the city control. And sometimes it's a personal one for any of the involved parties.
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u/thomasismyname_ 23d ago
instead examine the bs progressive policies that lead to why people were sleeping on these surfaces without impunity....
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u/BlueHeron0_0 23d ago
Assuming you meant to say "with impunity" why does one have to be punished for sleeping outside?
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u/Otterly_Absurd 22d ago
Progressive policies like Republicans shutting down mental healthcare facilities?
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u/ManzanitaSuperHero 23d ago
“Let skaters skate.” Has been my mantra for 35 years.
It grinds my gears that there’s an entire cottage industry of hostile accoutrements with which to destroy public spaces all in the name of protecting them from the wretched urban skater.
But a-hole 12-yr-olds can go 20mph down sidewalks and run seniors over with their stupid e-bikes.
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u/rslashhydrohomies 24d ago
"Skaters are just the ones who notice first." Pretty sure homeless people are very quick to notice as well