ALTERNATIVE DESIGNS

Here are three examples of incarceration that have attracted positive attention: What: The college dorm

Where: The Leoben court and prison complex near Graz, Austria

What’s different: Prisoners live in “pods” of 15 with single-person cells with floor-to-ceiling shatterproof glass, private washrooms and communal space that includes a kitchen. Each unit also has a balcony protected by bars for fresh air. In 2009, architect Josef Hohensinn told the New York Times Magazine his principle in designing the complex was “maximum security outside, maximum freedom inside.”

Notable: A line from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person,” is inscribed in the concrete wall of the yard.

Quote: “They are criminals, but they are also human beings. The more normal a life you give them here, the less necessary it is to socialize them when they leave.” — architect Josef Hohensinn

What: The holiday camp

Where: Bastoy prison, an island in the Oslo fiord, about an hour away from Norway’s capital city. The island is accessible only by ferry. What’s different: Norway’s largest minimum security prison occupies the entire island and includes about 80 buildings, including the cottages where prisoners live, beaches, forests and a farm. The prison started its life as a boys’ home in 1900 and closed in 1970. It reopened in 1982 as Norway’s largest minimum security prison with 115 inmates. Those who want to be incarcerated on the island must apply and demonstrate that they are motivated to change.

Notable: Prisoners use the farm’s workhorses to plow the fields and skid logs.

Quote: “If we have created a holiday camp for criminals here, so what? We should reduce the risk of reoffending, because if we don’t, what’s the point of punishment, except for leaning toward the primitive side of humanity?” — Arne Kvernvik Nilsen, the prison’s governor, in a CNN interview

What: An architectural showpiece

Where: Mas d’Enric penitentiary, in Catalonia, Spain

What’s different: AiB Estudi d’Arquitectes and Estudi PSP Arquitectura worked to create a “non-oppressive environment.” The site is surrounded by woodland, and the architects designed a series of low cellblocks with green roofs surrounded by large outdoor spaces shaped by sloping land. The architects said the complex celebrates “openness in the heart of detention.”

Notable: Courtyards and cells face the woods.

Quote: “The Mas d’Enric Penitentiary is a pioneering socially inclusive prison like no other, which reclaims the penitentiary as an object of architectural design. It has the potential to spark a debate on how architecture relates to social betterment.” - AiB architect Roger Paez