We meet the artist who has launched a website allowing members of the public around the world to name and shame local authorities and urban planners who commission pieces of ‘hostile design’
When artist Stuart Semple shared a photo on Facebook of a bench in Bournemouth, he never imagined more than a million people would see it within 24 hours. Nor did he expect these strangers to share his disgust at the metal bar that divided the bench in two, making it impossible for homeless people to sleep there. “I didn’t expect everybody to get it, but they did,” he said – still sounding surprised. “Everyone was passionate about it.”
Inspired by the overwhelming response, Semple decided to challenge what he called a “design crime against humanity”, calling in other artists to help decorate the town’s public benches in a “loving way”. The action was reported extensively in local media and that night, after dark, council contractors quietly removed the bars. “It was great to prove that we could actually change things,” Semple said.
Be informed. Be inspired.
Since then he has taken his campaign against ‘hostile design’ global, targeting public furniture that is “designed specifically to control or harm a human”, be it spikes in restaurant doorways or high-frequency…
