Architects need to be designing new building typologies to replace prisons that "were built to hurt people", says architect Deanna Van Buren, who established her non-profit firm to bring an end to mass incarceration in America.
Van Buren told Dezeen the current infrastructure designed for the criminal justice system does not work and that architects should instead be focusing on creating new building types.
"Prison represents punishment and control and security," she said. "They're not about care. They're not about rehabilitation. They're not about restoration."
"Don't worry about making those prisons and jails better, there's a whole lot of infrastructure that has to get built to end mass incarceration." Communities "just want to demolish" prisons
Van Buren founded her Oakland practice Designing Justice + Design Spaces in 2011 with the aim of building spaces that help to bring an end to mass incarceration in America, where more people per capita are incarcerated than any other country.
Her firm designs spaces for restorative justice, in which the damage of a crime is mended through meetings between the victim and the offender.
It also works on redesigning existing prions and jails. However, she believes that these structures are often too difficult to repurpose, making demolition a better option.
Designing Justice + Design Spaces project Restore Oakland is billed as "the first centre for restorative justice and resto...