CCTV noticingCCTV operates as a central instrument of carceral power, shaping behavior, space, and hierarchy through both technological and human surveillance. While presented as a neutral tool of safety, it reinforces asymmetrical control, contributes to the criminalization of marginalized groups, and erodes privacy. Tracing its expansion from prison architecture into public space, the analysis reveals how surveillance infrastructures automate state power and extend carcerality beyond institutional walls. hearth / enclosure public space,Panopticon,electricity,factories
COLLECTIVITY noticingCollectivity 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
SOUNDSCAPE radical noticingConceived as an immaterial landscape, the soundscape shapes our sensory experience of space and serves as a medium of power through its material substrates. Within prisons, the deliberate use of hard, non‑absorbent materials amplifies noise to enforce control, while the porous nature of sound itself enables inmates to resist and communicate beyond visual boundaries. hearth / roof movement,sound,public space
TIME critical noticingTime and space function as core mechanisms of incarceration, structuring both control and confinement. Through repetition and regulated routines, prisons enforce a temporal discipline that shapes the lived experience of those inside. At the same time, practices of resistance reveal how time can be reclaimed as a tool for subversion and abolition. hearth repetition, resistance,borders
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.