4th Quarter Project - Hostile Architecture

 My group did a project about hostile architecture. Within our group, Emily and I tackled the issue of spreading awareness about hostile architecture while Zahraa and Luca wrote a proposal advocating for the installation of five new inclusive benches to go around Uni. To try to help spread awareness, Emily and I made flyers to put around campus on or near hostile architecture, on which are QR codes that link to a Google Doc we made with more information about what hostile architecture is, how it is harmful, and links to the flyers so that others can print them and put them up themselves if they so desire. Our project was initially going to be a proposal to the city of Champaign advocating for us to become part of Built for Zero, but we found that they are currently not taking new members and switched project topics. 


I am happy that this project may result in a change being made around Uni in the name of inclusivity that could improve the day-to-day lives of Uni students. I think outdoor seating better suited for lounging would be beneficial for students, both for convenience and simply having more seating options since seating in the halls is limited. Additionally, I really hope some of the flyers we put up around campus stay up long enough that at least a few people can read them, as we ran into the issue of the flyers being taken down. I think if I were to do this project again, I would suggest additional ways of trying to spread awareness other than the flyers since they are very limited by their number and locations. Maybe we could have also tried to spread awareness through social media or something. 


But regardless, I am happy with the outcome of our project and the fact that we got the opportunity to think about how we could try to move toward solving the huge issue of hostile architecture, even if in small ways. To truly make a big impact and take steps toward abolishing hostile architecture would likely take policy changes in city governments beyond what a high school class can accomplish. However, just spreading awareness about an issue is a good way to start. I know that I for one am much more aware of hostile architecture when I see it now. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Indigenous Housing Injustice

                 Within the United States, indigenous people struggle to acquire adequate housing due to poverty (the result of colonization and sustained oppression of indigenous peoples) and lack of government initiative to improve indigenous peoples’ qualities of living. Indigenous Americans have the lowest labor force rate of any racial group in the U.S. at just 61.1 percent, and the average income of those who do work is only $35,000 per year, compared to the national average of $50,000 per year. In the most impoverished indigenous communities, unemployment rates reach up to 85 percent and only 1 in 3 men have full-time, year-round jobs. Additionally, due to the geographic isolation of indigenous reservations, there are far fewer job opportunities than are available elsewhere. Overall, 1 in 4 single-race indigenous people (meaning those who exclusively racially identify as indigenous) lives in poverty. Homelessness is also a huge pr...
Read more