What Does Architecture for Security Look Like?

There's a difference between designing for safety and designing for fear.

1 minute read

August 8, 2016, 12:00 PM PDT

By Elana Eden


Bollards

Sanchai Khudpin / Shutterstock

Ankita Rao explores a growing turn in architecture, and the culture that surrounds it, toward secure design. She writes:

Our culture of fear has changed the role of architecture in the United States… While legislators falter over gun control laws, architects and building designers are working to rethink the concept of a safe space.

Rao compares the built-in security measures of the Freedom Tower, the "behemothat the World Trade Center, to those of the outward-facing remodel of Sandy Hook Elementary School, where "natural surveillance" is encouraged. Both were rebuilt after devastating (and very different) attacks; their contrast points to the difficulty in striking what Rao terms "the balance between ominous and open" when designing for safety.

Thursday, August 4, 2016 in Motherboard

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

7 hours ago - Alan Mallach

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 14, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Front of Walmart store with sign.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network

The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

May 7, 2025 - Inc.

Public Market sign over Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington with pop-up booths on street.

Seattle’s Pike Place Market Leans Into Pedestrian Infrastructure

After decades of debate, the market is testing a car ban in one of its busiest areas and adding walking links to the surrounding neighborhood.

6 hours ago - Cascade PBS

Yellow and silver light rain train in downtown Long Beach, California.

The World’s Longest Light Rail Line is in… Los Angeles?

In a city not known for its public transit, the 48.5-mile A Line is the longest of its kind on the planet.

May 15 - Secret Los Angeles

Man reaching for young girl sliding down playground slide.

Quantifying Social Infrastructure

New developments have clear rules for ensuring surrounding roads, water, and sewers can handle new users. Why not do the same for community amenities?

May 15 - Happy Cities