The Act of Punishment

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.