NOTES
ON PRISON
IT TAKES FEW SECONDS TO LOAD THE DIAGRAM
05–02–25
The material nature of the threshold is reiterated in prison with each division of the prison complex (a new wall, a barred gate, or a zone). Its essence is also linked to numerous immaterial changes; prison has its own order, rules, and norms, and what is significant about crossing the threshold of the entrance door is the onset of the hyper-organization of the space found just beyond it. The PERIMETER WALL surrounds all the spaces necessary for a life without freedom, along with their schedule (both temporal and spatial). 1 Upon crossing this initiatory threshold of imprisonment, individuals are “mortified and reprogrammed, trimmed and framed into forms more easily processed by the administrative apparatus of bureaucratic formal organization.” 2 This marks the beginning of a journey through the prison, where every threshold connects the organizational channels and pathways of incarceration and does not permit exit. The first threshold, within the context of deprivation of liberty, strips individuals of mobility – the ability to move freely and to decide about movement itself. 3 Incarcerated persons thus become metaphorically immobile, and their movement is minimized through ZONING and efficient internal circulation.
Significant thresholds in prison are usually defined as places where changes occur in programm and in the degree of contact among inmates. The most private space would be an individual CELL, connected to the block corridor, which can branch out into various functions – the dining room, cultural room, laundry, etc. 4 The threshold between the cell and the corridor serves as an extension of the cell, allowing a view into shared spaces while maintaining control over the “personal” space. 5 However, its significance diminishes when individuals are forced to share a cell with others. Although this measure is enshrined in the United Nations’ Nelson Mandela Rules and the European Prison Rules (issued by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe), it is rarely adhered to in the Czech Republic. The most commonly cited reason for breaching this rule is prison overcrowding, which, under the law, even allows for the reduction of the minimum floor space per person. The critical state was already reported in 2016 by the former Czech Ombudswoman, Anna Šabatová, in the Report from Systematic Visits of the Public Defender of Rights, where she encountered situations of ten individuals in one
cell or people placed in cells with different security levels, involving, for example, stricter regimes and longer time spent in the cell. 6
Thus, the threshold that the law itself sets as the minimum acceptable standard is being systematically crossed. The ability to monitor this failure lies only with those exercising state authority or persons authorized by the state. And even when it is evident that violations occur repeatedly, there are very few investigative avenues to prove it. If public data on prison architecture were available, we could easily confirm the assumption through simple calculations that the total floor space of most cells in the Czech Republic does not meet even the minimally dignified standards allowed by Decree No. 345/1999 Coll. when prison capacity is exceeded.
These are, however, far from the only thresholds that imprisoned persons have been or will be forced to cross. Many of them exist outside the prison and are most often encountered by individuals in distress, leading to dependence on state assistance. Examples of such thresholds, which are not part of the prison complex yet bear characteristics of carcerality, can be found in many state institutions. This includes, for example, applying for and receiving social benefits, during which individuals are monitored, evaluated, surveilled, and disciplined, while the rest of society stereotypically stigmatizes them. 7 Another example may be compulsory schooling as a threshold of normativity – the body (in this case, of a child) is again monitored, assessed, and compared, and socialization takes place according to state-mandated educational norms – sitting, silence, obedience, and performance, see the image. 8 In her book Are Prisons Obsolete?, Angela Y. Davis notes that schools which “emphasize discipline and security more than knowledge and intellectual development are in fact preparatory institutions for prison.” 9
An extreme form of thresholds are state borders and their associated transitional typologies – airports, border crossings, and the detention and asylum centers linked to them. Here, people are deprived of the right to cross a threshold at will, and entry is strictly conditioned by the authority of the given state. The body is subjected to identification and biometric control. In detention centers, detained bodies do not hold the status of imprisonment, but the individuals cannot freely leave these places. They exist on the edge of carcerality and are held in this non-place for an indefinite or personally unknown duration. The issue was investigated by the group Forensic Architecture in Pushbacks Across the Evros/Meric River: The Case of Parvin, and also discussed in a series of articles in The Funambulist magazine, such as Migrant Detention: Stories from the United Kingdom. In the Czech context, the issue has been addressed by Veronika Dvorská in Deník Referendum and by Layla Bartheldi in Voxpot.
1 Philip Hancock – Yvonne Jewkes, Architectures of Incarceration: The Spatial Pains of Imprisonment, Punishment & Society XIII, 2011, no. 5, pp. 611–629.
2 Kateřina Nedbálková, Does prison have a gender? masculinity and femininity in prison subcultures, Czech Sociological Review XXXIX, 2003, no. 4, pp. 469–486. The author describes entering Erving Goffman's total institution.
3 Dominique Moran, Carceral Geography: Spaces and Practices of Incarceration, London 2018, p. 168.
4 Victoria Knight – Jennifer Turner, (ed.), The Prison Cell: Embodied and Everyday Spaces of Incarceration, London 2020, p. 278.
5 Ibidem.
6 Veřejný ochránce práv, Věznice: Zpráva ze Systematických Návštěv Veřejného Ochránce Práv 2016. Kancelář veřejného ochránce práv, available at: https://www.ochrance.cz/uploads-import/ochrana_osob/ZARIZENI/Veznice/Veznice-2016.pdf, accessed on 15 Apr 2025.
7 Based on statements made by experts (e.g. Daniel Hůla, Jitka Kylišová) for news servers or the document "Reform of Non-insurance Benefits" by PAQ Research.
8 Michel Foucault, Dohlížet a trestat: kniha o zrodu vězení, Prague 2000, p. 315.
9 Angela Y. Davis, Jsou věznice překonané?, Prague 2021, p. 41.
------ possible inmate route
▮ threshold (grille gates)
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.