December 27, 2020

PRISON  CELL  ARCHITECT

 
Is there a chapter in a book
on architecture or a class in
architect school about how
to build a prison cell?
 
If there is,  does it make windows
an absolute necessity– and how high –
so a prisoner can see the sky or low so  
as to see more – like a father with a son?
 
Would architects in learning the profession
talk about room for  shelves  for books and
windows to let in the sound of birds outside –
as well as trains in the distance?
 
How about chapels, churches, mosques?
Do prison architects bring up questions about
recreation, schooling, spirituality, exercise,
prisoners’ family, the future as well as the past? 
 
Do wardens, guards, prison psychologists and
doctors consider questions other than worry
about escape?  Who and what am I missing in
this short meandering wondering about prisons?

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020