The Creative Prison

“Creative cities where people feel engaged and involved are economically and socially more successful. Why should prisons be any different? Creative Prision is a positive attempt to look at things in a diferent way.”

The Creative Prison places the design of prison buildings in the hands of the staff and inmates themselves. Developed by architect Will Alsop, artists Shona Illingworth and Jon Ford, and led by the radical arts organisation Rideout (Creative Arts for Rehabilitation), the collaboration examines how the design of prions informs their effectiveness and challenges attitudes to current prisoner rehabilitation. The project involved a unique collaboration with prison staff and with inmates serving life sentences at HMP Gartree, Leicestershire.

Air Trees!

"The proposal for the Eco-boulevard of Vallecas can be defined as an operation of urban recycling that consists of the following actuations: the installation of three social revitalizing air trees placed along the existing urbanization, the densification of trees within their existing concourse, and the reduction and asymmetric disposition of the traffic routes, and superficial interventions within the existing urbanization that achieve reconfiguration of the executed urban development."

Where Money's No Object, Space is No Problem

The Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle
by Weiss/Manfredi Architects

"Their final breakthrough in conceptualizing the park came while hashing out the design problems at a favorite New York bar, the Odeon. "This took a couple margaritas, actually," Manfredi laughed."