PRISON CITY: REDESIGNING POLLSMOOR PRISON Town Cape Liz Pullukattu of PLLLIZ001 Master in Landscape Architecture MLA Dissertation APG 5052S University School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics 2017 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derivedTown from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes Capeonly. of Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University This page has intentionally been left blank MLA Dissertation Prison City: Re-designing Pollsmoor Prison by Liz Pullukattu PLLLIZOOl This dissertation is submitted as partial fulfilment of the Master of Landscape Architecture Degree 120 Credits December 2017 School of Architecture faculty of Engineering and Built Environment (EBE) University of Cape Town Studio Convener: Clinton Hindes Studio Supervisor: David Gibbs I hereby grant the University free license to reproduce the above dissertation in whole or in part. for the purpose of research. UCT school of architecture, planning & geomatics This page has intentionally been left blank Acknowledgements I’d like to acknowledge all those who assisted me in this venture- your input was greatly appreciated! Firstly, I’d like to thank Mr. Clinton Osbourn who gave me a glimpse into the world of Pollsmoor prison by sharing his stories of what life was like working with the inmates of Pollsmoor during his time with Youth in Prison (YiP). Without you I would never have been able to kickstart my research. Thank you to all my supervisors (David Gibbs, Julian Raxworthy, Tarna Klitzner and Clinton Hindes) for your guidance, motivation and kind words from the very beginning till the end of this thesis. I truly appreciate the time you all took to review and offer sage advise during my process of completing this body of work. A special thanks must also be given to Tomá Berlanda, for lending an ear and for the kind words you offered. Thank you! Getting through a master’s degree is no easy feat, and it would not have been possible without the regular confidence boosts and motivational phone calls by my wonderful sister, Divya, and my dedicated and hardworking parents, Jojo and Suma. I love you all. Once again, thank you all! This page has intentionally been left blank Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...1 STUDY: PRECEDENT (Re:Imagined) ...3 ABSTRACT : Study ...5 List of Precedent Studies ...6 Re:Imagined Composite Perspectives ...33 Re:Imagined Quad Model Photos ...34 Re:Imagined Quad Perspective Projections Photos ...35 Re;Imagined Design Manual Photos ...36 Study Conclusion ...37 DESIGN DISSERTATION ...39 ABSTRACT: Design Dissertation ...41 History of Prisons in S.A. ...42 A Timeline of Pollsmoor’s History ...44 Existing Living Conditions for Inmates at Pollsmoor Prison ...46 SITE ...49 Site Visit Photos ...50 Contours of site and surrounds ...52 Urban Scale and Context ...53 Further Site Analysis ...54 PROPOSED INTERVENTIONS: Micro-scale ...69 PROPOSED INTERVENTIONS: Intermediate ...73 PROPOSED INTERVENTIONS: Macro-scale ...96 ConcluSION ...108 APPENDIX ...111 PLAGIARISM DECLERATION ...112 ETHICS CLEARANCE FORM ...113 Reference List ...114 This page has intentionally been left blank This design investigation explores techniques on how to improve and humanize prison spaces- spaces where inmates can spend up to 23 hours of their day, every day, for the rest of their sentence. The investigation is not only looking into the design of the enclosed prison blocks, but also to the environments surrounding them- looking into the healing of inmates, their visitors, the staff that engage with prisoners, and the residents who live within the Pollsmoor compound. The site takes on the qualities of a miniature “city”/ “village”, therefore the interventions proposed are those that encourage the healing of the Prisoners | Users | Environment. Spaces are known to have an effect on its users therefore creating rehabilitative, calming and educational spaces will assist in the process of rehabilitation of prisoners and other users within Prison City. 1 This page has intentionally been left blank 2 STUDY: PRECEDENT Re:Imagined 3 This page has intentionally been left blank 4 ABSTRACT: Study Rehabilitating the Prison System The prison system in South Africa is a harsh and ineffective system that emphasises the need to punish rather than rehabilitate and reintegrate the incarcerated back into society. Although a lot of prisons in South Africa host a number of workshops and activities which have been introduced to inmates for such purposes- the recidivism rates of offenders, that have ended up in the penal system, has failed to drop or decline. A Process of deconstruction and synthesis The method of this study is to analyse and deconstruct existing prison or correctional/ penitentiary/ rehabilitation institute landscapes into potential design components and then synthesise these into environments that can promote the rehabilitation of prisoners. The projects analysed are of international and South African origin, and are of prisons or mental and other high-security institutions. The analysed projects will be looked at as potential interventions that can be synthesised within the landscapes (rather, lack of landscapes) of Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town. Looking into redesigning Pollsmoor Prison- a prison where conditions do not support opportunities for rehabilitation and integration and where bland, cold concrete and brick facades enclose inmates for mostly 23-hours a day. 5 List of Precedent Studies 1. Mas d’Enric [Tarragona, Spain} 2. San Pedro Prison [La Paz, Bolivia] 3. Halden Prison [Halden, Norway] 4. EEA Temporary Green Wall [Copenhagen, Denmark] 5. Suomenlinna Prison [Helsinki, Finland] 6. Las Colinas Detention Centre [San Diego, USA] 7. Valkenberg Hospital Revitalization [TRUP, Cape Town] 8. PitterPatterns [Stuttgart, Germany] 9. Tree Crutches Growing Guides [Utrecht, Holland] 10. Gary Comer Youth Centre Roof Garden [Chicago, Illinois] 11. Hypar Pavilion [Lincoln Centre , New York] 6 Mas d’Enric AiB estudio + PSP arcquitectura Tarragona, Spain 7 Re:Imagined Mas d’Enric landscapes projected onto quad 8 San Pedro Prison La Paz, Bolivia 9 Re:Imagined San Pedro Prison landscapes projected onto quad 10 Halden Prison Erik Møller Arkitekter + HLM arkitektur Halden, Norway 11 12 Re:Imagined Halden Prison landscapes projected onto quad 13 Construction of uhe Construction of uhe EEA Temporary Green Wall Johanna Rossbach, Mangor + Nagel Arkitektfirma (Copenhagen) Copenhagen, Denmark 14 15 Re:Imagined Green wall projected onto quad 16 Suomenlinna Prison Helsinki, Finland 17 Re:Imagined Suomenlinna Prison landscapes projected onto quad 18 Las Colinas Detention Centre KMD + HMC Architects San Diego, U.S.A. 19 20 Re:Imagined Las Colinas Detention Center landscapes projected onto quad 21 Valkenberg Hospital Revitalization Tarna Klitzner Landscape Architect TRUP, Cape Town 22 23 Re:Imagined Valkenberg Hospital landscapes projected onto quad 24 Pitterpatterns J. Mayer H Architekten Stad.haus, Scharnhauser Park, Stuttgart, Germany 25 Re:Imagined Pitter Patternswater feature and landscapes projected onto quad 26 Tree Crutches Growing Guides West 8 Courtyard Gardens, University Library of University Utrecht, Holland 27 Re:Imagined West 8 Tree crutches project’s landscapes projected onto quad 28 Gary Comer Youth Centre Roof Garden Peter Schaudt, Hoeer Schaudt Landscape Architects Chicago, Illinois 29 Re:Imagined Cary Comer Youth Centre Roof Garden landscapes projected onto quad 30 Hypar Pavilion Diller Scofidio + Renfro Lincoln Centre, New York 31 Re:Imagined Hypar Pavilion’s outdoor landscapes projected onto quad 32 Re:Imagined A composite medley of studied landscapes projected onto quad 33 Components for “play” to reimagine reimagine to “play” for Components model the physical with Re:Imagined Quad Model Introducing interventions into the quad space, using “game” pieces based on elements from the design manual to re-imagine the space in physical form. 34 Re:Imagined Quad Perspectives Projecting scenes on sheets of acetate from the design manual, to imagine the quad in perspective and to play with the quad landscape. 35 Re:Imagined Design Manual Visualizing the the re-imagined quad spaces through analysis, deconstruction and finally synthesis 36 Study Conclusion The images of the Re:Imagined quad are of synthesized elements, and they prove that the unstimulating, unchanging quad can actually be improved by adding something, if not anything into the space. To make it a landscape that has colour, texture, shade and has views for prisoners to look into even when they be in their cells. The benefits of introducing naturalistic settings in any space offer significant stress reduction and improve mental state [Lindemuth, 2007]. By introducing green and seasonally changing landscape elements into the prison quads we’ve introduced to prisoners an access to views, which according to Moore (1981) and West (1986) has a beneficial impact on its viewers. The behavioural and psychological outlooks of both the inmates and staff involved in Moore and West’s studies could be measured according to the number of sick- calls to the infirmary. Fewer sick calls were made by inmates who had a higher percentage of visible access to naturalistic elements from the cells, and Spafford (1991) adds to this idea by suggesting that the view quality within a prison setting