IS THIS ARCHITECTURE? - PENAL BUILDINGS AND THEIR ARCHITECTURAL REPRESENTATIONS

Abstract

Buildings are inanimate objects and can never be in themselves architecture. Only through the observer’s interaction with the building we can start to bear our ideals upon it.

Architecture today is debated, dissected and recognised almost entirely through representations. These representations come in all forms, e.g. photographs, films, drawings and literature. They shape our understanding of a building. Moreover, the representations endow meaning to a building, ultimately defining how one perceives it as architecture.

Penal buildings over the past century serve a highly functionalized role in the criminal justice System. Contemporary Prison buildings have relocated out of urban areas and spot a discreet plain façade. Images provide a finite and concrete representation of a building, but do not illustrate the lived experience beyond its frame. Therefore, how does an architect start to design one? Moreover, what is the (architectural) experience within one? To address these queries, a comparative case study of Singapore Changi Prison is conducted via interviews and design guideline reviews. Additionally, representations of prison life and experience are studied vis-à-vis inmate memoirs, drawings and images to arrive not only at an understanding of a prison building, but, moreover, an understanding of prison architecture.