Beyond The 4 Blank Walls of Incarceration

Abstract

This thesis investigation looks beyond the prison system and considers how the architecture of transitional housing might be able to contribute to the reduction of recidivism rates. This design project will create an innovative halfway housing system that helps former inmates transition back into society. It will strive to create spaces where inmates can transition from the highly orchestrated life of a prisoner; where they are scheduled and observed, back into society where they can regain a sense of control over their life and where they voluntarily accept societal norms of behaviour that help them to interact with other people in a manner that enhances personal freedom and safety. Observation plays a major role in the feeling of oppression typically found in prisons. This is caused principally by the imbalanced power relationship between prisoners and guards. Inmates can feel equally oppressed when released in freedom due to the fact that they are often looked down upon, as lower class citizens, feared and watched by society. To reduce this feeling of oppression, former prisoners need spaces where members of society can see them as equal members of society, able to play a positive role in the community. This thesis will experiment with establishing spaces where interaction between former prisoners and members of society is positive so that former prisoners can regain a sense of themselves as worthwhile. Ultimately this design project seeks to establish a space where former prisoners and society can come together in a manner that enables both parties to simultaneously feel safe and equal. An architectural response to this development encourages observation at three different layers. One layer focuses on the observational response of society. This layer encourages society to view the former prisoners in a positive light. Viewing points will be created where former prisoners are seen accomplishing beneficial activities. The first layer focuses on regaining the respect of their new community. The second layer focuses on establishing a negotiated, time dependent, variable observational layer, where society and former prisoners can observe each other in an equal manner, in order to understand and build trust in each other. The last layer discourages observation, so that former prisoners can rebuild a sense of themselves in private, away from the judgemental public eye.