NOTES
ON PRISON

FAQ
Dictionary
Manual of Archive
Against Carceral Architecture

CZECH VERSION

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COLLECTIVITY
noticing

Collectivity and privacy are systematically suppressed within carceral spaces through architectural design and institutional regulation. Examining the spatial strategies used to isolate, monitor, and control, the text reveals how prisons prevent both individual autonomy and collective resistance. At the same time, it traces forms of resilience that emerge within and against these structures, extending the critique to broader social and political contexts.

hearth / roof
resistance, factories, sound, public space

The online archive NOTES ON PRISON forms part of a diploma project undertaken at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, within Studio Architecture I. The overarching aim of the archive is to present and describe the practices, strategies, and associated architectural matter through which power is exercised within the prison system. These practices and spatial elements are subsequently revealed within different contexts and typologies.

The project’s political dimension contributes to the discourse on prison abolition, while also serving as a professional appeal to the architectural community: to learn to recognise spaces designed for oppression and violence, and to refuse further participation in their production. Instead, it calls for the use of imagination as a design tool, encouraging the creation of a society grounded in care and social equality.

At the top of the webpage, readers will find (1) a list of frequently asked questions related to prison abolition, (2) a glossary of terms, and (3) a manual explaining the structure of the online archive, including its categories, tags, and entries.