Sensory wall & sensory confinement

Sensory Wall

Layers create the illusion for the wall. An exploration of one, two, three, and four layered walls determined how many are needed to create the illusion. This exploration revealed the need for further development of the wall with four layers. The wall allows the occupant(s) to perceive the space around them in an illusory way. It creates an illusion for the occupant(s), because it shifts their reference points. A challenging boundary condition and movement allow an interactive relationship between the two rooms. While viewing the sensory wall, one can slightly see into the other room. When a person in the neighboring room moves, it creates an ambiguous illusory moving image in the first room.

Sensory Confinement

Freedom Through Isolation is a philosophy that was developed in the beginning of the design process. Here the word freedom refers to safety. By creating the gap between each individual cell, the inmates cannot make contact among each other. Thus increasing the privacy for them to move inside the cell. The prison acts as a landmark or edge of an island, where at night, its string of towers light the waterways and urban surroundings. The tallest building has 10 floors. Those charged with less serious crimes are housed closest to the ground and those charged with crimes that are more serious are housed further away from the ground. The higher living units are more enclosed while rooms in lower levels are more open. A louver system directs the inmates to see only selected parts of the environment. Each individual cell is a 10′ x 10′ cube arranged in a grid.