Hostile architecture is an intentional design strategy that is becoming more clever and concealed as it continues to play an important role in restricting our behavior and experiences in urban spaces. Most public benches in the USA have middle arms installed to keep (homeless) people from laying down or sleeping on them. Concrete architectural elements in civic spaces conceal anti-skateboarding grooves or added metal components, which make it impossible to skate or sit. These are the most obvious examples of how civic spaces are becoming extremely controlled and policed by design as a form of order maintenance. Within the inhospitable urban environment, I would like to introduce the opposite gesture. Rest is an adaptation of a standard civic bench, but the ends of the wood bench are formed to create a very comfortable head-rest. This is a simple design that can replace the unfriendly design decisions that control our behavior.
