Prisons and Paradise

On this episode, Michael says:

Prisons are remarkable design environments when you think about it, because there are few experience that humans can have where every aspect of them — from the architecture to the lighting to the experience design to the social design — has been minutely worked out, minute by minute, inch by inch, to deliver a certain effect

He and Jessica discuss a few examples of the intersection of prison and design, from the Guardian’s VR story about solitary confinement to experiments with design thinking workshops for prisoners.

Also mentioned:

Atul Gawande, Hellhole
Design Against Crime Research Centre, Central Saint Martins
Design thinking for prisoners in Fast Company and The Times of India
Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility
Paul Bloom talks about Why Empathy is a Bad Thing
Richard Price, Clockers
Drew Hodges, On Broadway: From Rent to Revolution
the BBC series The Paradise based on Au Bonheur des Dames by Emile Zola
Georges Perec, Life a User's Manual
A history of Prince’s unpronounceable glyph
Containment

Thanks to Designers & Books for sponsoring this episode.

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Posted in: Arts + Culture, The Observatory

Comments [2]

Thanks for this interview, several words are difficult for me, because I'm a french reader, but I have understood the general idea. :)

Bracelet Wrap
05.05.16
08:14

Hi, I wanted to let you know that your link to the movie containment leads to the wrong film. Please edit for future passionate design observers!

John Park
05.05.16
05:29

Michael Bierut studied graphic design at the University of Cincinnati, and has been a partner in the New York office of Pentagram since 1990. Michael is a Senior Critic in Graphic Design at the Yale School of Art.

Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer. A former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Eye and Communications Arts magazine, she is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame. Jessica received both her BA and MFA from Yale University where she has taught since 1994. In 2013, she won the AIGA medal.

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