NOTES
ON PRISON
IT TAKES FEW SECONDS TO LOAD THE DIAGRAM
05–09–25
The permeating nature of carcerality is not merely a metaphor – it manifests in tangible forms encountered in daily life beyond the PRISON WALLS. The replication and reproduction of prison-like aspects outside of correctional facilities can be referred to as transcarceral spaces or transcarcerality. 3 These forms of power are not only expressed through explicit control, but operate covertly; they shape thought, narrow the space for critique, and limit the ability to imagine alternative social arrangements. Carceral logic is deeply interwoven with hierarchies and inequalities based on class, race, gender, or identity. Prison labor, understood as a form of structural exploitation, is a telling example of this. 4 Its consequences extend even beyond release – through criminal record systems, persistent criminalization hinders access to employment and reinforces the notion that former prisoners are not entitled to full participation in society. 5
Carceral arrangements also leave an imprint on physical space. Prisons are often cited as examples of hostile architecture – environments designed to restrict movement and prevent gathering (COLLECTIVITY). The material forms of such principles are most evident in spaces marking the boundary between private and public. Within public space, these principles take on repressive shapes that inhibit habitation. They are often targeted at people experiencing homelessness – found on benches, ledges, and other places of pause, outfitted with spikes, barriers, and other design interventions meant to prevent prolonged presence. 6 This spatial regime is reinforced by surveillance technologies – CCTV systems and police patrols – whose activity disproportionately impacts marginalized groups. In the Czech Republic, this applies particularly to people experiencing homelessness, 7 while in the United States, this regime concentrates on racialized communities. 8
To understand and confront these strategies, it is necessary to challenge the very assumption of separation between the “inside” and the “outside.” Philosopher Lisa Guenther calls for the construction of bridges between prison and society that would transcend the illusory boundary and foster new ways of expressing and communicating the aims of prison abolition. 9 By making visible and naming individual moments, we can cultivate our sensitivity to carceral practices and resist being misled by efforts to produce “more humane” forms of incarceration. Change, however, is not achieved solely through critique of imprisonment itself, but also through recognition of how carceral logic is transformed into new forms. One example lies in alternative punishments, such as house arrest or electronic monitoring, which do not reduce repression but rather extend its reach and test the limits of total surveillance in public space. 10
A key aspect of prison abolition lies not only in critical analysis (in the case of the archive, the material forms of carcerality), but also in listening to and engaging in dialogue with those who are criminalized and who have lived experience of incarceration. Incarcerated and criminalized individuals are often deliberately excluded from structured discourse – precisely because their experience challenges official narratives of safety, justice, and accountability. 11 Change therefore requires connecting their lived realities with the collective imagination of a society capable of taking responsibility for care and justice outside repressive frameworks.
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This need was already articulated in the 1970s by members of the Groupe d’Information sur les Prisons (GIP) and the more radical Comité d’Action des Prisonniers (CAP). Both initiatives sought to disrupt the silence surrounding incarceration – not merely in terms of improving conditions, but as a call for its abolition. In their view, prisons were tools of class oppression, structural discrimination, and social exclusion. For them, the abolition of prisons meant creating new alternative forms of coexistence and solidarity – not simply the removal of buildings, but the end of the carceral ethos that continues to permeate society. 12
1 Dominique Moran (et al), Linking the Carceral and the Punitive State: A Review of Research on Prison Architecture, Design, Technology and the Lived Experience of Carceral Space, Annales de Géographie II, 2015, no. 702–703, pp. 163–184.
2 Michel Foucault – Prisons Information Group, Intolerable: Writings from Michel Foucault and the Prisons Information Group (1970–1980), Minnesota 2021, pp. 3–4.
3 See note 1.
4 See note 2, p. 60.
5 Ibidem, pp. 80–81.
6 Manon Veaudor, Catégorisations et pratiques d’affectation en maison d’arrêt, Champ pénal/Penal Field XIX, 2020. Available at: http://journals.openedition.org/champpenal/11746, accessed on 8 May 2025.
7 Laco Toušek, V Plzni hledají konečné řešení otázky bezdomovectví, Deník Referendum, 2014. Available at: https://denikreferendum.cz/clanek/19293-v, accessed on 17 Apr 2025.
8 Celeste Barry – Nazgol Ghandnoosh, One in Five: Disparities in Crime and Policing, available at: https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/one-in-five-disparities-in-crime-and-policing/, accessed on 23 Apr 2025.
9 Joe Sim, Punishment and Prisons: Power and the Carceral State, New York 2009, p. 134.
10 Jackie Wang, Carceral Capitalism, Cambridge 2018, pp. 39–40.
11 See note 9.
12 See note 2, pp. 66–67.
ADÉLA VAVŘÍKOVÁ
THEORETICAL TEXT
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.