Unlocking Potential: The Architectural Redemption of Eastern State Penitentiary
Open Access
Author:
Pontell, Joshua
Area of Honors:
Architecture
Degree:
Bachelor of Architecture
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Darla V Lindberg, Thesis Supervisor Orsolya Gaspar, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Adaptive Reuse Carlo Scarpa Eastern State Penitentiary
Abstract:
The gradual decommissioning of historic prisons across the United States due to aging, humanitarian concerns, and new laws which reduce rates of incarceration have led to physical voids in the form of closed prisons across America. These former prisons and the land which they occupy sit vacant, their many cells empty and their halls quiet. These structures and their stories, good, bad, and ugly, deserve to be heard, and to be used in ways which benefit the communities where these former prisons lie.
This thesis uses the Eastern State Penitentiary, a hub and spoke panopticon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as an example of how a space of this unusual typology can be utilized by the surrounding community year-round. This project is inspired by and utilizes techniques from Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa, who mastered the art of intervening in historic structures and carefully selecting what building elements and stories should be saved, and what need no longer exist.
