Is There anything like humane jail design: Whether the changes in design will prove beneficial or injurious to society?
- Bharat Journal of Case Studies
- 1(1), Jun, 2025: p.45-69
This case is an attempt to draw attention towards the condition of inmates in the prisons of the country. The case revolves around the major experiences of Professor Keshav Kumar, senior architect of Uttar Pradesh Nirmaan Nigam (UPRNN) who to the best of his efforts tried to implement reformative prison design to influence the psychology of the inmates, making him the main protagonist of the case. The case discusses his efforts, attempts and experiences in the form of narration and conversation with different people involved in the design. He advocated the use of well thought architectural strategies as a tool to influence the psyche of prison inmates and also following all the mandatory norms. It expresses the major concern of Professor Keshav Kumar to provide humanitarian conditions to prison inmates and at the same time highlights uncertainty among the decision makers to accept such design strategies. It also revealed the emotions of the inmates and their preferences in reference to the basic needs they have during their sentence. Hence the case proves itself to be worth of serious thinking both by the management authorities and prison designers to explore all the feasible options for humane prison design and strategies to achieve positive mindset of inmates and security at the same time.- Reproduced