Breaking Boundaries of Prison Design for Architectural Design Studio

In collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ), design tasks for a prison design are carried out within a second-year studio course of a Bachelor's program in architecture to improve the students socially oriented design skills and train their critical understanding towards solving designs problems via an open, integrative approach to learning. The tasks aim to offer creative solutions that improve human living conditions and inspire inmates to improve their social behavior and attitude towards life. The mixture of learning experiences in direct contact with experts, specialists, and those affected are intended to strengthen the knowledge base, empathy, and sincerity in the decision-making process to address and improve social issues in connection with the design. In a stepwise approach, studio learning is intensified by the students' collaboration with stakeholders and existing design-related social issues. According to the students' design results, the proposed designs imply greater awareness of social issues and an understanding of human-centered needs, documenting the student's aim to improve the current situation of prisoners. In addition, the disseminated public results, conflicting with the widespread public opposition towards improving prison conditions, helped students develop their critical thinking and reasoning skills towards others. Future improvements in teaching will include exploring a wider range of relevant, critical, and socially-oriented aspects of architectural design tasks and expanding collaboration and engagement with the respective individuals and groups.