Prison

The aim of the research is to seek answers for a social issue within law enforcement that seems to appear as a bounding force, one that reflects upon humanity through its persistence. My goal was to study and interpret the complex system of penitentiaries and to investigate how architecture could better integrate into the very fabric of law enforcement.

“The prison cannot fail to produce delinquents.” Foucault’s critique of authority relates to a question that all of us should consider. How is it possible that after centuries of studying the prevailing systems of law-enforcement, the fundamental flaws underlying them still remain unrevised? This project was an experiment to integrate different disciplines of social sciences with architecture synergistically, with the aim to establish a new perspective into understanding the architecture of complex prison systems. Criminal law defined the correlation between the criminal act itself and its punishment. Criminology defined the attributes of people who commit a crime. Victimology defined a better understanding of the relationship between victim and offender. Penology defined the features of reward and punishment within totalitarian institutions. Sociology defined understanding into the universal dynamics and processes of societies both inside and outside prison walls. Philosophy defined the connections and paradigms of disciplinary systems. Psychology defined the patterns of human behavior under extreme circumstances. Prison psychology defined the mental and emotional fall-out of incarceration. Environmental psychology defined the effects of the physical space on human behavior. Cultural anthropology defined the manifestations of social networks and habits in prisons. I attempted to create an experimental institution while incorporating these sciences and philosophies. In my opinion, in the case of such an extreme institution, it is important to keep to a systematic approach. The aim was to decrease the sense of deprivation, create the foundations of cooperation, to differentiate between inmates, to introduce the idea of self-sustainability, as well as to lessen isolation and encourage successful re-entry into society. Along with these ideas, I have defined certain anomalies (like solitude, noise, stress, nature, brightness, level of supervision and time) that served as determining aspects throughout my planning procedure.