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Has anybody had any personal experience with hostile architecture and whether it affects them directly, either as a unhoused person or not!

New hostile beds available. Endorsed by your local government.

Forgive the edits and view from Google earth

You will not lay down

Does anyone have any links to information about this phenomenon? I’d be interested in reading interviews with, or blogs by, people who compose deliberately annoying music for a living. Where do they seek inspiration for their works? Who have been their main clientele, who have commissioned unpleasant music from them? What considerations come into play, when composing a song that truly is music, as opposed to pure noise, but quickly becomes highly grating on most people who listen to more than a few minutes of it? I’d be interested in listening (briefly) to these composers’ musical portfolios, as a source of dark humor.

I first learned that deliberately annoying music is a thing about 20 years ago. I was with two other American exchange students, eating at what was then the only McDonald’s in Harbin, China. Being located in a major metropolis, this McDonald’s was designed for high traffic. It was two stories tall, and the second floor was seating for dine-in customers.

Not long after sitting down with our food, I noticed music playing on the public address system. It was unlike any other music I’d heard playing in China — a sort of loose, noodly synth-jazz keyboard melody, that wouldn’t sound out of place on one of Phish’s early studio albums. I wouldn’t have given the music another thought, until my classmate looked up at the speaker with an annoyed look and clicked his tongue, and I realized I was hearing the same 1min of music, looped over and over again at different volumes each time. The key was discordant sounding, and the rhythm contained some abrupt stops. There were vocals in about half of the loop: children singing softly and indistinctly in Chinese. The climax of the song involved the instrumentals stopping abruptly, and a single child’s voice singing something about ice cream. Then the other children’s voices and the synthesizer came back in for a few more measures, before fading out at the end of the loop. By about 510 repetitions, the music was very noticeable, and unbearable. We finished our meal and left quickly.

My classmate theorized that this was the r/HostileArchitecture of music. Just like fast food restaurants make their chairs deliberately uncomfortable and their decor purposely ugly, to deter customers from lingering too long, this McDonald’s was using music to the same effect.

The other major place I’ve heard music I’m sure is designed to be hated, is when I’m on hold on the telephone, waiting to speak to a customer service representative at a big corporation. Again, it’s bearable once or twice, but after a few loops (interspersed with a saccharine reassurance that my call is very important to them), I can’t wait for it to end. The message is clear: Don’t call. Use our webpage.

Does anyone know the technical term for this sort of music? I’d be happy to search for industry insider literature about it myself, if I knew a good search term.

Classic armrests too tiny to put your arms on but don't let you lay.

Rocks are installed in the spaces near Calais to prevent installations. A redevelopment has been proposed. Quai de la Gironde. Calais

Not a huge fan of this type of design decisions, but loved the intervention with the crying faces 😭

https://abc7.com/videoClip/15439185/

Admittedly this post is coming from a rather selfish experience. today, i was walking around in an area and i desperately needed to use the bathroom. i was running from building to building trying to find a restroom, but all were locked or had some sort of restriction on bathroom use. i then saw porta potties and let out a sigh of relief, but when i approached them, there was padlocks on the doors. i was in disbelief. of all reasons to lock up bathrooms, how does this apply to porta potties?? arent they meant to be a way to put accessible bathrooms in places devoid of them? the whole experience made me realize that the bathroom issue is far more severe than it seems. those who publicly ridicule houseless or homeless people often complain of their poor hygiene and how they urinate or deficate in public- but often, they have no choice. in my city at least, public bathrooms not behind “customer only” restrictions can be multiple miles apart. the city simply makes it nearly impossible for houseless people to practice proper hygiene, and in my opinion lack of public bathrooms, especially ones that contain sinks and soap, can absolutely be considered hostile architecture and overall city design. and given that job interviews often wordlessly require proper hygiene in the interviewee, its just yet another way that cities and towns make it nearly impossible for homeless people to escape their situation. its disgusting.

At first I was happy the place was refurnished, but then I noticed the uneccesary "tables" on the benches