There was plenty of outrage earlier this month when a London
storefront revealed footpath spikes meant to keep the homeless from
getting too cosy. While these shiny prickles did seem especially
Temple of Doom-ish,
they weren’t all that unusual: there are plenty of little details
designed into our cities that tell us what to do, where to go and give
us hints of what came before.
While the intentions of some details, like footpath spikes, are
inherently obvious, not all these civic designs are always so blunt.
Some infrastructural elements have to be purposely disguised, so we, the
public, will not mess with them. Others try to nudge us towards a
certain behavioural pattern using not-so-subtle hints that supposedly
won’t ruin a spot’s overall aesthetics. And other features are simply
artifacts of a different time and place, which have not yet managed to
be erased.
Here are some infrastructural cues you might have seen on your local streets, and what they’re trying to tell you.
Don’t Sleep Here
The London spikes in question were
actually removed
after an online petition went viral, but there are plenty of other
completely accepted ways that cities prevent sleeping in public spaces.
You’ve definitely seen the creative fences and decorative railings that
ring windows and ledges with welcoming studs and teeth. The example
above is in Manhattan.
Even on bus benches, which are supposed to be comfortable, those little humps mid-bench are there to make sure you don’t get
too
comfortable. Benches are also purposely designed from slippery
materials or with a steep incline so one has to work to remain upright.
Nice, huh?
Utility Lines Below
Those too-orderly graffiti tags scattered across the street and
sidewalk are actually very specific markings from public works
departments and utility companies. An
excellent explainer over at
Smithsonian Magazine
tells the story of these civic hieroglyphics: the system, which is
called DigAlert, was created by American Public Works Association after
construction workers accidentally cut through a petroleum pipeline in
1976, causing a fatal explosion.
There’s even a handy chart to help learn which colours translate to
which utility lines. In addition to the colours, the rules dictate that
certain lines, arrows and shapes are used to show how the utilities are
moving through the ground.
No Skating
Perhaps the most famous (or infamous) infrastructural modifications
in cities are the bolts and notches applied to railings and benches to
prevent skaters from grinding down the sides of them.
Some are just ugly, but others, like these turtles, which just HAPPEN
to be crawling along the top of this bench, are quite creative.
Photographer Marc Vallée has been
beautifully documenting some of the worst offenders in the UK and beyond.
This Footpath Is Old
Footpath maintenance is the bane of many cities’ existence — with
tens of thousands of kilometres to monitor, it’s no wonder many public
works departments farm out the business to private companies. So many
cities began requiring private contractors to stamp their work with
their name and date as a way to check quality but also keep tabs on
which footpaths needed to be repaired or replaced.
Toronto has an especially interesting — and artful —
collection of sidewalk stamps
that date back to the early 20th century, and other cities have both
contractor and inspector stamps. The practice is still used currently in
many cities, so 100 years from now people might be admiring the age of a
2014 stamp. Or will we even have footpaths then?
No Pigeons Allowed
Along the same lines as the anti-sleeping spikes, these thin spiny
spokes in high-up places are meant to discourage larger birds from
roosting — which helps to prevent nests from forming, yes, but also
helps nearby human residents avoid noise and lots of shit below.
Found all over the world in different variables — in Denmark they go by the adorable name of
fuglepigge
— the spikes are seen as humane because they simply encourage birds to
land elsewhere. They’re just not particularly attractive.
Old Basement Underneath
Walking in older neighbourhoods, you might notice tiny glass tiles
embedded in the footpath around the entrances to buildings. These are
called “vault lights” or “deadlights”, and they were used to flood the
basements of older buildings with natural light before the days of
electricity.
Untapped Cities has a
nice story
about the history of these “hollow sidewalks” in New York City. Many
have been filled in due to the danger they present (they have been known
to cave in) but you can still find
plenty of examples throughout the city.
Don’t Jump
Anti-suicide barriers are becoming more and more common on popular
monuments as they have been proven to deter people from jumping off
bridges and other tall structures.
Most of the newer barriers are a type of net made from thick cables,
similar to the one proposed for the Golden Gate Bridge. These are
popular, because, unlike a tall railing or fence, they don’t interfere
with views.
Horses Used to Be Tethered Here
You’ll have to look very carefully for these tiny rings bolted to the
footpath in older urban areas. These are horse rings, back from the
days when people needed a place to tie up their horses and horse-drawn
carriages. Think of these as pre-car parking spaces.
Many cities have pulled out the rings as part of standard footpath upgrades. In Portland, artists began tethering
toy horses to the rings to bring attention to them.
Oil Is Below
In many cities the encroachment of urbanisation has not stifled the
fact that plentiful oil must be extracted from the ground. In many
places where oil production was high, the streets used to be covered in
derricks hoping to suck the black gold from below. Oklahoma City, home
of one of the largest petroleum reserves in the world, has a derrick
right there in the front yard of the capitol.
Picture: Oil of LA
Other cities work to disguise the derricks as decorative buildings or structures.
Oil of LA
is a lovely documentary that tracks the bizarre structures around Los
Angeles used to hide oil derricks, like one on the campus of Beverly
Hills High School.
The Cold War Was Here
Air raid sirens (officially known as civil defence sirens) left over
from both World War II and the Cold War are still found in many cities
around the world. These alert systems were built to warn residents in
the event of an imminent bombing and, later, a nuclear attack.
While some have been repurposed as tornado or tsunami sirens — and in
other places, the sirens are still sadly used as warnings for missiles
or other attacks — many of the stations have fallen into disrepair over
the years.
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