NOTES
ON PRISON

FAQ
Dictionary
Manual of Archive
Against Carceral Architecture

CZECH VERSION

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Zoning, repetition, and the enclosing architectures of the prison do more than contain—they vibrate with a slow violence that organizes bodies, affects, and atmospheres. The built environment acts as both actor and witness, modulating intensities of power, vulnerability, and control. Carceral architecture thus emerges as a participant in the wider choreography of dispossession, shaping not just what can be done, but what can be felt.

roof / hearth / base
movement, electricity, separation, borders, slaughter house, zoo

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.