Passage: 'Urban architecture does not merely reflect existing social power structures; it actively manufactures them. The panoptic design of early nineteenth-century prisons and factories institutionalized asymmetrical surveillance, conditioning inmates and laborers to internalize discipline. Similarly, contemporary 'defensive architecture'—such as slanted public benches and spiked ledges—communicates an exclusionary message, cleansing public plazas of marginalized bodies under the rubric of urban aesthetic sanitation.'
What is the primary function of 'defensive architecture' according to the passage?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Enforcing social exclusion by making public infrastructure physically inhospitable to marginalized populations
- Step 1: Examine the author's discussion of 'hostile architecture' (such as anti-homeless spikes and divided benches).
- Step 2: The author contends that these physical designs serve as instruments of social control directed against vulnerable populations.
- Step 3: Consequently, the primary function highlighted is enforcing social exclusion by making public infrastructure physically inhospitable.
Answer
Enforcing social exclusion by making public infrastructure physically inhospitable to marginalized populations.
Why not the others: Protecting public monuments against erosion conflates defensive urban design with conservation maintenance; optimizing parks for athletic tournaments misconstrues exclusionary barriers as recreational amenities; lowering municipal tax expenditures invents an unmentioned budgetary rationale.
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