DECARCERAL ARCHITECTURE

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Charles Davis II

Spring 2022

ARC606, Inclusive Design Graduate Research Group MArch

How can architects help shed light on the structures and processes of mass incarceration? This Inclusive Design Graduate Research Group studio addressed this question by investigating historic and contemporary forms of mass incarceration in the United States. Prisons are ultimately material articulations of power and surveillance. Dissecting these formations through case studies, students learned how the logic of power and surveillance extends well beyond the prison. Without the counterforce of rehabilitation, there is little room for connections necessary to link the incarcerated to the outside world—a significant handicap exacerbated by how society views its inmates.

Based on precedent research, students worked in groups to break down how each case study represents a common typology of prison design: Eastern State Penitentiary, Poston, Arizona Japanese Internment Camp, and the Chicago House of Corrections (The Bridewell). The studio asked students to reflect on ways to replace the programmatic functions of modern prisons—spaces of containment and punishment to—spaces of containment and punishment—with a network of social services. Through open forms of student-led discussion and design exercises, they identified strategies to alleviate the need to imprison people due to non-violent criminal behavior in low-income and underserved communities.

The Chicago House of Corrections (Bridewell), known for its cell house organization and inmate labor practices, was the focus of study for one group. This correctional facility was sectioned off by quarters, with women segregated to the west wing and men in the north and south wings. The men's cells are placed in the center of the room with mezzanines wrapping the cell block. With such a configuration, inmates are restricted from seeing one another, leading to highly problematic social consequences.

Students began by questioning the role of a single cell – could it be designed or reconfigured for healing instead of punishment? For protection rather than separation? Students produced architectural proposals from these perspectives, generating new cell blocks and configurations, and discussed their potential for transforming how they might affect the lives of the incarcerated.

Based on the precedent study, Broat asked how forms of incarceration impact the cultures and identities of prisoners. Broat then transformed the cell block's architecture into a conveyor system that could transport inmates, abstracted as boxes within their cells.

This idea forces one to think about how the industrial prison system displaces people and their families and how it strips away individuality through exploitation. The scheme posits how an architect can do plenty within a space or with a set of constraints while raising questions about the need for greater social involvement in creating healing correctional environments.

Dam explored the architectural configuration of a cell through a set of physical models that he transformed with iterative interventions. Combining the standard dimensions of a singular cell created new conditions to be aggregated. The assemblages speak to how a cell block can be constructed and then deconstructed to form a base module, creating an ever-expanding condition that can replicate and fulfill any need.

“As a designer, I have limitations and cannot independently create a solution... Rather, I can bring attention to what is existing and explore distinct alternatives.”

- Diana Genao

Also starting with the existing carceral typology, Genao focused on the movement of spaces created by cell blocks. Her idea conveys how cell blocks can be manipulated, rotated, stacked, and arranged to serve distinct purposes. In this case, separation is replaced with a collective community.

Each approach changes the orientation and placement of a cell, resulting in a series of unique conditions. The final illustration shows the endless arrangements that can be made with the same blocks to foster a different culture than the one currently in effect.

As students gained a deeper understanding of the course material, they constantly questioned their opinions and positions on the prison system. While designing their scheme, they were pushed to interrogate whether they wanted to maintain, reform, or abolish it. What is an architect's role within the system? Why should an architect care?