Situated in a picaresque Norwegian forest, surrounded by pine and birch trees sits Halden, a modern building made of wood panelling and black brick which you’d be forgiven for mistaking for some kind of student residences. But Halden is a maximum-security prison and home to 250 inmates and its design has dubbed it as the most humane prison in the world.
Halden Prison has been set up with a campus design made up of separate buildings with different functions such as housing, visitation and education so that inmates must step outside and move between buildings as one would in the outside world. Materials also play a part, as Halden uses glass to let in natural light and cork and wood to feel comfortable and absorb noise rather than traditional concrete and steel. There are also no bars on the windows, which look out onto the surrounding scenery so that nature and the passage of time is always visible. The outer perimeter is obscured and there are no guard towers or razor wire in place. Even the cells are furnished with comfortable wood furniture, showers and TVs. All of these measures intentionally prevent inmates from feeling caged in and in the presence of an authoritarian power. The tight corners and identical hallways of traditional prisons often cause tension and frustration which more often than not manifests in violence and rioting. Everything about this design has been done to induce responsibility and even remorse, rather than resentment.
Although the Norwegian government has received criticism that this prison design is too luxurious, it all comes down to the definition of a prison is, and what it should be used for. Unlike conventional prisons where punishment is considered the main goal, Halden’s design aims to rehabilitate its inmates through mimicking everyday working life, plus counselling and education. Norway’s re-incarceration rates are among the lowest in the world and as a Halden warden explained; ‘Every inmate in Norwegian prisons are going back to the society. Do you want people who are angry — or people who are rehabilitated?’.
If we are to use the phrase ‘everyone deserves good design’, then this includes designing for those that some may feel don’t deserve it – after all, Halden is maximum-security housing many dangerous criminals. But if the violence stirred up by the harsh concrete and steel of traditional prisons is anything to go by, then it proves how important good design can be, and how we can harness it to help rehabilitate those that won’t be paying for it. Design should dignify us all without exception, and if we can use it to somewhat improve society then this can only be a good thing.
Morven
References:
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/05/31/410532066/in-norway-a-prison-built-on-second-chances
Comments