November 2009 Archives

Perceiving imprisonment throughout history, the act of punishment has changed from a dungeon of torture to an environment of controlled confinement. 'Good or die' has become 'good or to-become-good', through which physical boundaries evolved from thick fortified labyrinths to large courtyards and control towers within.

I want to extend this evolution and introduce the prison as a self-maintaining entity. It operates as a machine, where a technologically driven system of total control replaces the presence of human guards. Cells hold the individual prisoners; arteries provide transport of prisoners, food and mail and the heart of the building contain spaces of common use. The process of rehabilitation is physically integrated in a layered structure of cells. The inner layer generates the start of this process, the most outer layer triggers limited engagement with the city to ultimately eject prisoners on the street as 'cured' individuals. Life sentenced prisoners are kept in the top of the building; short sentences are served in the bottom.

With a fixed footprint of 100x100 meters, the height of each prison expresses the national account of imprisonment. Size matters, the quantity of prisoners is equal to the size of the prison. Where the prison is huge in times of crisis, it will diminish in times of prosperity. On a global scale, the collection of these entities acts as a comparative diagram on imprisonment and the status of 'evil'.

>>...a plan is in progress...

Perceiving imprisonment throughout history, the act of punishment has changed from a dungeon of torture to a light and human environment of rehabilitation. 'Good or bad' has become 'good or to-become-good', physical boundaries evolved from thick fortifications to walls with ordinary windows and metal bars.

I want to extend this evolution and integrate the prison as an ordinary entity within the city. Its anonymity not derived from closed brick walls, but through its complete generic existence in scale and material. Blurring physical boundaries of the prison and its context, it has become the ordinary building within the city. The prison has windows that allow views on the square in front and doors which allow entrance of individuals like any other school or hospital. The sense of being imprisoned is purely derived from an emotional, psychological state of being.

I believe the state of civilization affects the way we deal with punishment. Where justice in medieval times was subject to bloody, public spectacle; a contemporary position of prisoners is generated through a sense of rehabilitation. Media, politicians and others use fast, digital exchange, storage and exposure of personal information to generate and manipulate the social status of individuals. The prison has become a safe habitat to hide, the world beyond as the new prison where punishment has once again become a matter of public spectacle. Size matters, the quantity of prisoners is equal to the size of the prison. Where the prison is huge in times of crisis, it will diminish in times of prosperity.

A public display for the moral status of society.