Justice in Design initiative to explore how to design a modern jail

The New York City Council, the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, and Van Alen Institute recently launched the Justice in Design initiative.

The project team, consisting of architects, environmental psychologists, and incarceration experts will explore the future of jails in New York City. The team will examine how to design a modern jail, focusing on interior and exterior design elements to provide for neighborhood integration and safer, more humane facilities, according to a news release.

The team will research how jails impact the health and well-being of people inside them and the communities in which they sit. “These guidelines aim to lead to policy changes toward new and healthier models of justice in New York City,” the news release says.

The project team will hold three community design workshops to provide the public with an opportunity to collaborate with an inter-disciplinary team of designers, social psychologists, incarceration experts, and urbanists.