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Boston Architectural College (BAC)

Boston Architectural College (BAC)

Boston, MA

Fall 2018 Student Lecture Series: Jana Belack

Wed, Sep 26 '18
Boston, MA, US

The Boston Architectural College invites the community to join us for Design and Punishment: the Architecture of Incarceration, a public lecture by 2017 John Worthington Ames Scholarship recipient Jana Belack, BDS '10, M.Arch '16, on Wednesday, September 26, 2018, at 6 pm in Cascieri Hall.

Design and Punishment: the Architecture of Incarceration studies the role of architecture and programmatic organization and their influence on the rehabilitation of incarcerated offenders. After touring fourteen prisons in Scandinavia and Canada, Jana compares design elements and their influence on the mental, emotional, and physical health of an inmate. How can thoughtful design provide the daily mental stimulation and social interactions one encounters on the outside within one controlled facility to seamlessly reintegrate people with society upon release?

About Jana Belack

An architectural designer in Boston, MA, Jana began her education at Thaddeus Stevens College in Pennsylvania, majoring in Architectural Technology. She relocated to Boston shortly after graduation to further her education in architecture at The Boston Architectural College. At the BAC she earned both a Bachelor's in Design Studies degree in Sustainable Design and a Master's Degree in Architecture. Her interest in carceral design began with her master's thesis entitled A Women's Prison: Communities for Incarceration.

Design and Punishment: the Architecture of Incarceration continues this passion project through comparative analysis of prison facilities around the world. Intrigued by the psychological influence design has on a user in such a controlled environment, Jana did not end her study with the final thesis presentation. Jana was named Boston Architectural College's 2017 John Worthington Ames Scholar which allowed her the opportunity to travel throughout the Nordic countries of Finland, Sweden, and Norway to visit nine prisons in the summer of 2017 and to see five prison facilities in Ontario, Canada, in spring 2018.

Rodjan Prison on Sweden

Rodjan Prison in Sweden

Kingston Penitentiary in Ontario

Kingston Penitentiary in Ontario, Canada

Scandinavia map of prisons visited

Map of Scandinavian prisons visited by Jana

Map of Canadian prisons visited

Map of prisons visited by Jana in Ontario, Canada

Halden Gate

Halden Prison, a maximum security prison in Norway

Kingston Women's Prison

Kingston Women's Prison in Ontario, Canada

All images courtesy of Jana Belack

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