The Most Disturbing Prison In The Universe

I'm so glad you mentioned Norway. Our prison system has caught so much flak from other countries. Notably comedians from America. The prison director of Halden once said in an interview "Who do you want living as your neighbour? A person that's been treated like a dog for 10 years, or someone that got help with their addiction, financial troubles, mental health and treated with dignity?"

Complicating the issue of jails in Los Angeles is the fact that a pretty significant percentage of inmates have severe mental illness. Our jail system has been referred to as the largest mental health hospital in the world but the problem is, it isn't set up to be a hospital. California shut down most of the hospitals and asylums because they became places where people were being inhumanely warehoused but instead of community based models filling the gap, prisons became the answer for now. Great video and really key to understanding the power of architecture to foster relationships.

whenever i think about prison and recidivism, i think about experiencing school as an autistic kid. In middle school, I would sometimes get so overwhelmed i'd stay in a bathroom stall for an entire class period. They would send me to ISS for skipping class, but I kept having to skip classes. All ISS did was stress me out about my attendance, make me more stressed, and i'd have more and more meltdowns that I felt the need to contain privately. In high school, my 504 counselor (who was much more competent than my IEP counselor in middle school) helped me build a system where I could communicate with my teachers and do my work in the guidance office, where I could be supervised in a relaxed environment and get my work done. When you punish bad behavior, you lose the chance to fix the issue at it's source.

one thing about the prison in andor having windows is that it proves to the prisoners that there are others competing against them. otherwise they might not believe that they are actually competing and won’t work as hard

I recall hearing of a prison where everyone was given a cat to care for. Many of them began to grow empathy and responsibility in caring for their cats and those who abused cats were dealt with severely, by the other inmates.

I can appreciate the crossover from architecture to philosophy, human rights, and psychology

In Singapore, the punishment cells in prison only have a hole in the floor that functions as a toilet and the only water source. The lights are left on 24/7 and you sleep on the ground next to the toilet on concrete. Meals come blended like a smoothie making even the food not something to look forward to a lot of people come out loosing 30 to 50 pounds.

Damn, I did not expect you to mention Norway's prson system here. It's important to note that the only thing special about Halden is it's facilities. The principles and freedoms of the inmates are similar, if not broader, in other Norwegian prisons.

I worked in "Corrections" at the national level in Canada for many years. This analysis is one of the best that I have ever seen. Prisons, at best, 'incapacitate' as Dami said, they (in most of the world) do not rehabilitate, and are, in fact, a very expensive way of making a 'bad' man worse. Great work Dami.

My brother served a sentence in a Norwegian prison, and it was low security which is pretty lax. My aunt told him that she heard that Bastøy was like a vacation resort, with barely any rules or guards. And wondered if he wanted to be sent there instead of (iirc) Larvik Prison. My brother very gently, but firmly shut her down. He said that Bastøy is strictly regulated, by the inmates. You have access to chainsaws and lots of power-tools. And the inmates have an innate hierarchy that makes sure that other new inmates don't "ruin the status quo" for the rest of them. So while it looks chill, it's pretty stressful.

I've been so impressed by your content over the years. Expanding the concept of 'just architecture' to all these philosophies etc. I've been following you for a long time and it's been a joy to see the growth and a pleasure to watch. Thank you!

I never thought i would be into architecture, but ive been binging your videos the past few days

One neat thing that often gets overlooked when people discuss Bentham's panopticon design is that, not only can the whole thing theoretically be managed by a single guard in the centre tower (since no prisoner knows if they're being watched at any time, they must assume that they are), but that eventually you can remove even that one guard, and the behaviour of the prisoners should remain the same, since they don't know there's literally no one watching anymore, and they still must assume the eyes are on them at any moment.

I just did 43 months in federal prison in Seattle Washington. One of the hardest parts for me was the complete separation from nature, it was a multistory building with no access to an outside yard and frosted windows inside the cells. Also there were no real programs to help people work on themselves. One of the worst experiences of my life, alot of days of nothing but suicidal thoughts, thank God I made it through and I'm doing great now.

I just discovered you guys and you've fast become my favorite youtube channel! Thank you for creating such great & unique content. With a mix of pop culture, and insights on society, art, biology and of course architecture! My eyes have been opened to new ideas and views.

i love your subject content....it is so relevant but with the added unseen, or unthought related issues.

12:31 It wouldn't be the First Time in the Star Wars unniverse that an Architectural/Engeneering "flaw" was implemented intentionally by someone in order to sabotage the Empire from the inside. Ironically, both stories featuring this have Cassian Andor in it.

at one point i worked at an endangered bird breeding center in Hawaii that was a repurposed prison on Maui. the prison had been shut down in the 80s and just barely remodeled to accommodate the birds and staff caring for them as of 2005). it still had most of the old prison fixtures, including the solitary confinement cells near the watchtower. Solitary was the designated storm shelter for the birds, if there was a bad storm or wildfire that cut the center off the birds and staff would move into the hole. Solitary was absolute hell, even being there for half an hour a week to check on the airline kennels and clean and dust was stressful. the smallest sound echoed horribly. We all hated it, and i was glad we never needed to use it while i was there. Even though the facility was no longer used by the prison system and the only people there were employees of the conservation program that room had an impact on you. i can only imagine what living in one for days or months would be like

Totally love and agree with everything you said. How do we as architects have discussions with our clients about the need to uphold those standards?

I'm so glad you brought this topic up.... Totally different places for different purposes but disguised and said that they're the same..