Camden bench

The Camden bench received criticism as being a prime example of a wider trend of urban design that is anti-homeless, known as hostile architecture. Critics claim it is emblematic of a society where freedom in public space has been curtailed and deviance from accepted forms of behaviour has been made impossible. The style of the bench can be related to 'Secret city design tricks to manipulate your behaviour', which relates to the idea that things may be designed to encourage a type of behaviour without it being either obvious or ugly. Another common design of this is modest 'pig ears', which are placed on walls and benches. Because the design is "defined far more by what it is not than what it is", the bench has been called the "perfect anti-object", a "masterpiece of unpleasant design", and "the pinnacle of hostile architecture". Other recent names have included 'defensive' or 'disciplinary' architecture. These terms describe many sculptures which are designed and attached or installed in public spaces, in an attempt to render them unusable in certain ways by certain people or groups. As a prime example of urban design and hostile architecture, Rowland Atkinson, the co-director of the Centre for Urban Research at the University of York argues that the idea of the implication of spikes and other related architecture are a part of a broader pattern of hostility and indifference based towards social difference and poverty produced within cities. He views these implications as an assault on the poor, and an attempt to displace their distress which the general public seem to agree with. The argument begins by summarising how different processes overlap and come together, such as economic processes which result in creating people to become vulnerable. Popular criticism focused on subverting restrictions imposed by the bench, such as by attempting to skateboard on it or sleep on it, and allowing its use only as a bench.

The design has achieved several awards: • Keep Britain Tidy "Best practice street cleansing" (2010) • Design Council "Best practice for reducing crime" (2012) It has also been accredited as: • Home Office "PAS68 approved" (a classification for vehicle security barriers) for counter-terrorism use.