The second image is something I noticed while walking around Portland’s north park blocks. It consists of two large concrete sculptures in the shape of fruits that sit in the public right-of-way between the sidewalk and the road. The sculptures, like the large boulders, are preventing people from setting up tents in that public section of downtown land. These sculptures differ from the boulders commonly used in this scenario in that they may be viewed as a positive addition to a neighborhood street. What could be wrong with people enjoying looking at art? This unobtrusive approach allows the hostile architecture to go unnoticed in more populated and wealthy neighborhoods, such as the one depicted in Portland. Instead of addressing the root causes of homelessness, these sculptures are just “band-aid” solutions that hide the problem. By emphasizing aesthetics over social well-being, society ignores the real factors that contribute to homelessness.
two large concrete sculptures in the shape of fruits that sit in the public right-of-way between the sidewalk and the road
diagram illustrating two different reactions to large concrete sculpture near the sidewalk.