An Experimental Study on the Creation of Cardboard Furniture

With an increasing push towards public, shared spaces in urban planning the question of who these spaces are truly meant for arises. While in theory they are meant for everyone, use of “hostile architecture” creates a barrier to this being the reality. Hostile architecture is a term used to describe elements of cities used to limit certain types of behavior. Some of these behaviors include sitting for long periods of time and sleeping both of which are commonly associated with homelessness. This is implemented in a variety of ways such as spikes in window sills, angled benches and arm rests. This design aims to be a counterpoint to these architectures as a place to sleep. 

The basis of the design was the pressure points different sleeping positions put on the body. Each pressure point corresponds to a tube with a particular height to create a surface of points. Both computer-generated 3D models and physical models were created to convey scale models of this design. Each bench is a different sleeping position to create options for any person. 

While examples of hostile architecture have been well documented, creating designs that are non-hostile isn’t as common. Since hostile architecture is created in opposition to the ways people make use of normal architecture and this project is in opposition to hostile architecture the easy solution is a return to traditional design. However, this solution neglects the ways in which traditional design is exclusionary as well. Rather this designs and those going forward should consider a greater spectrum of uses especially in the public space.