DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
PROPOSAL ON
DESIGNING PRISION
NEPAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE
CHANGUNARAYAN,BHAKTAPUR
SHRISTI SHARMA
012-243
1. Introduction
1.1 Background of study
A prison (jail or gaol or penitentiary or correctional facility) is a building where convicted criminals
are held and incarcerated. It is a secure facility that houses people who have been convicted of a
felony criminal offense and are serving a sentence of (typically) 11 year or more, which are operated
by a state government or the federal government. Some serve long terms or life sentence while some
wait for trial, those with short terms are locked up in jail. They may be transferred from jail, taken to
prison from court after a conviction, or report to prison on a date set by the court. Those released
may be sent to parole supervision or to some other type of community program or with no
supervision if they have served their full term.
As an abstract term, prison is quite simple: a place where your freedom, movements and access to
basically everything is restricted, usually as punishment for committing a crime.
1.2 Historical background
Some ancient Greek philosophers, such as Plato, began to develop ideas of using punishment to
reform offenders instead of simply using it as retribution. Imprisonment as a penalty was used
initially for those who could not afford to pay their fines. The romans were the first to use prison as
punishment rather than detention. A variety of existing structures were used to house prisoners, such
as metal cages, basements of public buildings and quarries.
During middle ages in Europe, castles, fortresses and basements of public buildings were often used
as makeshift prisons. Later, houses of correction were built which housed mostly petty offenders,
vagrants, and the disorderly local poor. In these facilities inmates were given jobs, and through
prison labor they were taught how to work for a living.
From late 17th century and during 18th century, popular resistance to public execution and torture
became more widespread. The prison reform movement that arose at this time was heavily
influenced by two contradicting theories. First, primary purpose of prisons is to be so harsh and
terrifying that they deter people from committing crimes out of the fear of going to prison. Second,
they were used as a form of rehabilitation which was based on religious ideas that equated crime
with sin. The later reformers believed that prion could be constructed as humane institutions of moral
instruction so as when they were released they would be model members of society.
The theory of modern prison was first born in London which introduced solitary confinement,
religious instruction, a labor regime and proposed two state penitentiaries. All convicts who had not
been sentenced to death would be placed in penal servitude to do public works projects.
As of 2010, 9 million people in the world were prisoners. The United States of America has the most
prisoners which houses more than 2 million prisoners.
2. Objectives
Prisons have been one of the most neglected sectors in terms of architecture. Most of the prisons in
our country have been functioning the way they used to since the British times. In terms of
infrastructure the prisons need tremendous upgrade. As one enters a space, whether positive or
negative, he is psychologically affected by that space.
Prisons are not just meant to punish the convicted, but also make them repent of the offense he/she
has committed by rehabilitation. The prison environment should be designed in a way to make the
inmates repent, culpable, sinful, grounded and remorse over the sins they committed. The
environment should allow them to reform in a way that they do not get back to committing those
mistakes once again. The prisons that are functioning at present have various psychological impacts
on the convicted which may or may not end up sculpting the individual into the desired personality.
Prisons have historically been used for a number of purposes:
Most commonly to jail criminals lock away political dissidents who are mentally ill, prisoners
of war and it serves as safeguarding dangerous people locked away from society so they
cannot commit more violent crimes.
The objectives of the research topics are:-
To create and maintain a safe, modern and creative correctional center by which the prisoners
could get the chance for rehabilitation and to start a new changed life by creating the
environment through designing, planning, facilities and services.
To review the concepts, issues and problems related with space management.
To review the security management strategies, policies and role of the government.
To use architectural elements as a tool of security management and rehabilitation.
To provide relevant facilities to motivate the prisoners to change their way of thinking and
attitude and understand their family and society.
3. Project Justifications
A prison has always been conceived as dark, dreadful and secretive facility by the outside world. All
of the practices that are being carried out within the prison premises are unknown by many.
Reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners and the effect of the prison environment on their
psychology while they are at the prison and after they are released have always been a major
concern.
With the numbers of crimes increasing by the day, the criminal count is increasing too.
Rehabilitation does not seem to be well attained due to persistent crimes committed by the convicted
person even after being punished and rehabilitated formerly. Another concern is that there is
acceptance of these prisoners back into the society after being released, which may have extensive
amount of impact on their psychology. Punishment should not be the sole aim; reformation and
rehabilitation should be just as important. If we have a new, safe, innovative prison with proper
planning and designed facilities with adequate spaces, services, a criminal can understand oneself,
society and change their life in proper way.
4. Scope and limitations
4.1 Scope of the research
Prisons in Nepal house not only criminals but include children of prisoners, political inmates, women
who have undergone abortions, and countless inmates who have not received any sentence. Most
prisons in Nepal are overcrowded and the conditions of detention are extremely poor. According to
records of the Prison Infrastructure Management Improvement Task Force, Nepal jails house a total
of 12,036 inmates but only have a capacity of 6,416. Confined in an unhealthy living environment,
the prisoners have inadequate access to holistic health services, including psycho-social services.
During mobile health clinics in seven prisons of Nepal it was found that 83 % of the prisoners suffer
from psychological as well as physical health issues. The inmates most commonly suffered from
anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms, fungal infections and other communicable diseases. The
inmates’ legal rights are routinely denied. Legal or paralegal services are not made available to the
prisoners. While serving time inmates tend to be criminalized due to the influence of hard core
criminals and lack of space and interventions. All these factors hamper the rehabilitation process of
the prisoners. After release, former inmates’ lives are dominated by stigma, a lack of skills and
opportunities, and the absence of a support system. As a result, many former prisoners fall back into
crime after their release.
Nepal’s Prison Act was formulated half a century ago, followed by many amendments. However,
none of the provisions in the act have been implemented and many need further amendments.
Recently the Prison Infrastructure Management Improvement Task Force studied the country’s
prisons and issued a list of 36 recommendations. These include the transformation of jails into
reform houses through the establishment of an open prison system. A 50% reduction in inmates is
proposed through speeding up court hearings. The government has shown an interest in
implementing the recommendations.
Prison population total (including pre-trial 17 966
detainees / remand prisoners) at December 2016 (national prison administration)
Prison population rate (per 100,000 of national 62
population) December 2016
Pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners (percentage 58.9%
of prison population) (13.3.2009)
Female prisoners (percentage of prison population) 7.3% (October 2014)
Foreign inmates (percentage of prison population) 5.5% (October 2014)
Number of establishments / institutions 74 (2014)
Official capacity of prison system 11 500 (April 2016)
Occupancy level (based on official capacity) 155.7% (April 2016)
Prison data analysis
Year Prison Population Total Prison Population Rate
2000 6,000 25
2002 7,132 29
2004 6,393 25
2006 5,580 22
2008 8,401 32
2010 10,739 40
2012 14,936 54
Prison population trend
4.2 Research Questionnaire
For the research, in order to collect data and information following questionnaires can be asked:
Are the prisoners being treated as per their rights?
What can be done to change the thinking of the inmates through architectural element?
How are the space managed and problems associated with them?
How can we create a secure prison and the security management strategies needed?
What facilities can be provided to inmate in order to create a relevant rehabilitation center?
What are the significant architectural features that give a clear identification?
How it is made creative, safe and new correctional center?
What are the possible responsibilities to create a safe society with no crime activities?
4.3 Limitations
The selection of the site due to the overcrowding areas might result in the obstruction of the design.
Also, due to unstable political background the study and research might not be an easy process. The
insufficient and ineffective prisons may hinder to gather relative informations.
In the project, the prison will be including: county jail, quarter for federal division, state prison,
separate for male and female inmates, Young or juvenile offenders, Psychiatric units
Other buildings and facilities:
Administration facilities, sacred zone, library and educational facility, recreation and fitness, an
infirmary, visiting rooms, kitchen and dining, accommodation for prison staff, control units,
mail rooms, workshops, telephone and computer rooms
For juvenile division: youth homes, community based programs, training schools and boot
camps
