Prison as a Mirror: The Reflection of the Prison Concept & The Re-Evaluation of the Built Environment

Abstract

Throughout history, the prison as a physical entity took different shapes, forms and morphs. However, the prison system was hardly ever proven effective and questions about its efficiency and objectives have been a subject of debate. This research suggests that “Prisons” do not only exist physically but also exist as a conceptual phenomenon. The concept of imprisonment was determined through studying distinctive legendary prisons while referring to written literature by Michel Foucault, Gaston Bachelard, and Edmund Bacon. A direct connection between imprisonment and the human detachment from “Nature and Life” was determined. Criteria of the concept of imprisonment were deduced in order to be able to distinguish the existence of the conceptual prison phenomenon from other heterotopic spaces. The research suggests that the concept of prison as a mirror is able to reflect the unspoken factors in the built environment which leads to the reevaluation of the current built environment in urban context. This research suggests the use of the prison criteria as a tool to read the built environment and develop the capability to avoid the phenomenon of imprisonment in urban context as well as individual spaces within the built environment.