The sidewalk is full of graffiti. in ParisA strange sight appeared several days ago. Olympic opening ceremony in July: About 40 giant Lego-like cement blocks are lined up neatly beneath the Pont de Stains, a bridge in the northern suburb of Aubervilliers that connects the two Olympic venues, the Stade de France and the Parc des Nations.
The site used to be a homeless camp, where about 100 people, many of them migrants, lived in tents. Then on July 17the police came and order everyone to leaveas part of a clean-up operation in which authorities removed homeless people, members of the Roma community, migrants and sex workers on the bus to other cities like Bordeaux or Toulouse.
After the government cleared the area, permanent concrete blocks were installed in place of the tents, ending any notion that former residents might one day return, activists say.
Advocates say the bricks are an example of hostile architecture, a term used to describe some of the most visible changes cities and businesses make to discourage homeless people from gathering or sleeping on their property. “This is not new, but it has been intensified in a very specific way during the Olympics,” said Antoine de Clerck, who is part of Le Revers de la Médaille, a group of activists raising awareness about how marginalized people are treated during the Olympic Games.
“We are not in favor of camps, squatters and slums,” de Clerck added. “But to get rid of them, you have to find long-term alternatives.”
Despite other examples of hostile architecture in Paris, including picnic table installed where people used to sleep, it was the giant Lego blocks that caused the most controversy. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Jules Boykoff, a professor and former professional soccer player who studies the impact of the Olympics on minority communities. “Usually hostile architecture is more subtle,” he said, “like a curved bus bench that makes it harder for someone to sleep.”
Anti-homeless spikes and rough surfaces are installed in a luxury housing estate to deter homeless people from sleeping in the area around Limehouse Basin marina in London, UKPhoto: Julio Etchart/ullstein bild via Getty Images
