FORGES
COURTYARD MONTESSORI
PETIT LAC
FORGES
COURTYARD MONTESSORI
PETIT LAC
LAURINE MARTIN
PRISON WITHOUT WALL
S7 - 2017
' Walls impose themselves to Humans, and that's certainly much more true in prison. '
Francois Boullant
THEORY
First and foremost, we think that the main issue in jail is the deprivation of liberty and that is the reason why inmates don't manage to reintegrate into society after their prison term. Actually, the real problem in jail is not so much that of liberty as that of human relationship when you are incarcerated.
All the relationships you had abruptly disappear. You are thrown into another society with different rules ... and you have to deal with this new environment because it is vital for man to have
relationships. According to Christian DEMONCHY, a famous prison architect, 'More than the material living conditions, it is the new conditions of social life [...] which are the punishment actually imposed along their incarceration.'
In short, when you are released from prison it is hard to reintegrate into society because you have to adapt to new rules and new living conditions.
CONCEPT
A prison without walls is more than just a prison; it is built without ramparts to keep the inmates inside the building. It doesn't mean that inmates are totaly free. They just still have some relation with the outside world. The goal of this kind of prison is to address the problems prisons are confronted with.
A prison without walls allows to maintain social relationships between inmates and the rest of the community. As I have already explained , the major problem in prison is not so much the loss of liberty as the absence of relationship due to the presence of walls. That's why, it is really crucial that the jail should fit into the town-centre.
The project must be a space that encourages the relationships between people.Thus, designing the outside and the surrounding of the project is going to be a key determinant. Finding the best way to integrate a jail into Govan will be the core of the project. The cells also play an important role in the project, because they should be a space where isolation is conductive to pondering. This is how it should be conceived. The prison without walls will be more than just a detention building. It will be a social meeting and learning space.
