I’ve always marked the spring of 2018 as the beginning of my involvement in justice architecture, when I was assigned to my first courthouse project and sat down with the designer for an introductory lesson on the complexities of courthouse planning. It was such a memorable initiation into a field that has since become a career focus, that I’ve pointed to it as a kind of professional milestone. So, I was surprised to learn at this year’s AAJ conference that my justice experience had not, in fact, started with that lesson, but had actually started more than a year earlier, when I worked on a border crossing.
This year’s conference theme of “Crossing Borders”, which was particularly topical given the conference location in San Diego, included several sessions on border crossings. Even though I’ve been involved in the justice sector for a couple of years now, I had never thought of border crossings as justice facilities. I suppose that’s because it’s not one of the three typologies that most justice buildings seem to fall into (courts, corrections and law enforcement). Or perhaps it’s because, at my firm, border crossing projects are assigned to the transportation design studio, rather than the public buildings design studio that handles our other justice work. The question was even posed at the conference’s AAJ Sustainable Justice Workshop, whether border crossings should be part of the ‘Law Enforcement’ category for the purposes of the AAJ Sustainable Justice Guidelines, or whether they need their own, separate category. The question was left unanswered.
From what I learned at the conference, it seems that the general consensus among the justice community is that border crossings are, in fact, justice facilities, but it is unclear how they should be categorized within the broader sector. The law enforcement components of their programs and operations clearly associate them with the sector. However, they differ from other types of justice facilities because most of the people who pass through them are crossing legally, and therefore do not become involved in the justice system, whereas someone at a courthouse, correctional facility or police station is usually already involved in the justice system in some capacity. It’s easy to see why they’re so difficult to categorize. However, I believe the reason these buildings fit within the justice sector is not because of the judicial processes that they facilitate; rather, it’s because of the potential for vulnerability in their users. Many users of justice facilities are inherently vulnerable due to the emotional nature of the justice system and its processes, and border crossings are no exception. As was pointed out to me by another conference attendee, even a legal crossing could be a stressful experience, whether it’s because of the unfamiliarity of the process, the scrutiny of the inspection procedures, or because the crossing signifies a more permanent transition to a new home. Any kind of interaction with the justice system, whether it’s in a courtroom or at an inspection booth, has the potential to take a physical or emotional toll. Because of the vulnerability the justice system can impose on its participants, architects have a responsibility to design justice buildings to meet users’ needs while keeping them physically safe and emotionally secure. It was inspiring to see so many architects at the conference this year who take this responsibility seriously, not only for border crossings, but for all types of justice buildings.
Part 1: ‘Southern Border Stories: People, the Wall, and Architecture’
One of the first conference sessions I attended (and the one that sparked this revelation about the start of my justice career) was ‘Southern Border Stories: People, the Wall, and Architecture’. Eddie Jones and Brian Farling of Jones Studio presented several of their land port of entry projects on the southern border of the United States. The most inspiring aspect of each design was the focus on the pedestrian experience through these facilities.
Jones Studio designed a pedestrian annex building at the San Luis Land Port of Entry in San Luis, Arizona, to facilitate the daily crossing of thousands of migratory workers as they travel to and from the agricultural fields near Yuma¹. Tasked with providing additional capacity for pedestrian flow to reduce wait times, they focused not just on pedestrian efficiency, but the pedestrian experience, to elevate it and make it more humane. The result is a light-filled, welcoming space to make the people passing through feel calm and secure. This is particularly important in a facility that plays such a prominent role in the daily lives of so many people, and therefore has the potential to affect them in either a negative or, in this case, a positive, way.
Pedestrian processing area of the San Luis Land Port of Entry
(Photo: Jones Studio, http://jonesstudioinc.com/project/san-luis-1-land-port-of-entry-north-annex-building/)
The same firm designed the Mariposa Land Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona², re-organizing the pedestrian and vehicular traffic lanes to make routes through the port of entry more straightforward. They also created a garden oasis running through the middle of the site. Both interventions serve to mitigate anxiety for people passing through, with the ease of navigation that is provided by the re-configured lanes, and the views and access to nature for public and staff that is provided by the garden. For a facility that is inherently meant for transient users, the enhancement of the user experience within the facility conveys a sense of respect for the people passing through.
Garden space at the Mariposa Land Port of Entry
(Photo: Jones Studio, http://jonesstudioinc.com/project/mariposa-land-port-of-entry/)
The architects of these border crossings prioritized the pedestrian experience, to make the public feel safe and comfortable in what could be a confusing or stressful situation. I believe that the architects’ conscientiousness of their responsibility to the user is what makes these facilities inspiring examples of justice architecture.
Part 2: Tour of The Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility, Santee, CA.
While the border crossings presented at the conference emphasized the public experience, architects are responsible for meeting the needs of all types of justice facility users. The Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in San Diego, designed by HMC Architects and KMD Architects, is a very successful example of corrections architecture that does just that. The architects understood the effects an environment can have on its inhabitants, so they designed the facility to meet the physical and emotional needs of the women in custody³. I, along with several other conference attendees, were fortunate enough to be able to tour the facility. When I first stepped into the secure area, the warm building materials, beautiful landscaping, and the fact that from many vantage points there are no fences to be seen, made it feel more like I was on a college quad than in a correctional facility.
Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility campus
(Photo: HMC Architects, https://hmcarchitects.com/portfolio/civic/las-colinas-detention-and-reentry-facility/)
It was clear while touring the facility that the designers were very conscientious about creating a normative, healing environment. The facility is laid out as a campus with different functions housed in separate buildings. This allows the women to walk outside between meals, work, classes, and recreation, emulating the daily routines of life outside the facility to prepare them for release. The interior layouts of many of the housing units are designed to reduce the separation between the women in custody and the correctional officers, fostering a sense of trust that was evident in the friendly and equitable manner in which the officers and detainees conversed with each other. The separation of programs into standalone buildings also provides the opportunity for extensive glazing to introduce ample natural light into the interior spaces. These bright spaces, coupled with warm textures such as wood, and light-colored interior finishes, create calming interior environments conducive to reducing stress and depression.
Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility housing unit
(Photo: HMC Architects, https://hmcarchitects.com/portfolio/civic/las-colinas-detention-and-reentry-facility/)
Since the facility was opened, the environment has had a measurably positive effect on its inhabitants, reducing stress and even achieving a 50% reduction in violence in its first year of operation. At one of the conference sessions, the short film A Place of Second Chances was presented in which women in custody at Las Colinas shared their stories. Many of them spoke of the positive impact the place itself has had on their experience, in an environment that is, as one of the women described, “conducive to rehabilitation”. To hear that directly from someone who is not in that environment by choice is a tribute to the success of the project, and how seriously the architects took their responsibility for the well-being of these women.
Part 3: ‘Envisioning and Implementing NYC’s Transition to a Smaller, Safer, Fairer Borough-Based Jail System’
There were many examples at the conference of built spaces in which the success of the design can be seen by the way the environment supports its users. Conversely, Rebecca Clough, Beverly Prior, and Roger Lichtman presented a design strategy, rather than a finished project, at the session ‘Envisioning and Implementing NYC’s Transition to a Smaller, Safer, Fairer Borough-Based Jail System’. Even though the project is in the initial planning stages, it is clear that the driving forces behind it are the physical and emotional needs of its end users, which includes not just the detainees, but also their families, lawyers, and other participants in the justice system.
To facilitate the closing of the Rikers Island prison by the end of 2026, the plan for four urban jails, distributed among the boroughs of New York City, was recently approved. The location of the current prison on Rikers Island and the lack of public transit to service the area makes getting to it very difficult and time-consuming. This limits family visits, in-person lawyer consultations, and access to programs provided by outside service agencies. This naturally takes a physical and emotional toll on the detainees, as they are cut off from their communities. The proposed new borough-based jail system, which will distribute the city’s incarcerated population among four different facilities, is designed to alleviate the difficulties faced in the current facility. These new jails will provide not only more modern facilities designed to current correctional design practices, but their more local, urban locations will allow the detainees to stay closer to their communities, and facilitate easier and more frequent visits from family, lawyers, and service providers.
This borough-based system addresses the needs and vulnerabilities of its users by alleviating the stress or depression that could affect not just the detainees, but also their support groups, when they are forced to be separated from each other and their communities for an extended period of time. The fact that this project is addressing these needs so early in the planning process emphasizes the importance of allowing these considerations to drive a project right from the beginning.
This year’s conference presented so many inspiring buildings that are designed to support their users, and I got to meet so many architects who understand the impact they can have on these users. This is particularly admirable as it can be very difficult to maintain this vision throughout the design process. I’ve seen how the ambition to create an innovative new standard for justice design can be chipped away by factors such as client demands, budget reductions, and pushback from stakeholders who don’t want to challenge or change their practices. This gets very discouraging and it’s easy to think that our aspirations may never be realized simply because we don’t control the purse strings. However, I’ve come away from this conference with a newfound optimism after seeing so many justice facilities that create truly calming and healing environments. I plan to take this optimism back to the office, along with many successful precedents I can now point to when a client or stakeholder is being cynical about the feasibility of innovation. I hope to come to next year’s conference not only with more justice experience, but maybe a success story of my own, having been able to overcome budgetary and procedural obstacles to design a space - whether it’s in a courthouse, prison, police station, or border crossing - that puts the end user first.
Stephanie Fleming is an Architectural Designer at NORR in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
References
- “San Luis 1 Land Port of Entry – North Annex Building”, Jones Studio, http://jonesstudioinc.com/project/san-luis-1-land-port-of-entry-north-annex-building/.
- “Mariposa Land Port of Entry”, Jones Studio, http://jonesstudioinc.com/project/mariposa-land-port-of-entry/.
- “Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility: Incarceration Meets Rehabilitation”, HMC Architects, https://hmcarchitects.com/portfolio/civic/las-colinas-detention-and-reentry-facility/