The Academy of Architecture for Justice (AAJ) promotes and fosters the exchange of information and knowledge between members, professional organizations, and the public for high-quality planning, design, and delivery of justice architecture.
Money for new detention facilities is scarce. Architects can help justify the construction of new facilities through a rigorous examination of key challenges that the proposed new facility needs to solve. The effectiveness approach to detention facility design begins in the programming and planning phase. “What will make our new facility effective?” is the key question that architects should be asking their clients. For example, instead of asking “How large should our facility be?” clients should ask “Where is the evidence supporting the need for new beds?”. Perhaps the better formulation is the question “How small should our new facility be and still do its job?” Reducing the building footprint calls for analysis of the justice system activities (police, courts, probation, etc) that create the bed space needs and the development of alternate strategies to divert, treat and speed the adjudication offenders. This in turn reduces the number of admissions, reduces length of stay and results in fewer beds, a smaller building footprint and a more manageable budget.#CorrectionsandDetentionsTrack #2011AAJConference