/ Winter 2012 - Featured Project
Based on the incomplete stadium in Sicily, we designed a special prison that responds to the thermal
conditions on the site.
To design for the thermal comfort, we did experiments on the site and mapped thermal and frictional energy of the concrete on two stadium sections. Energy transfer between the two is then derived, which becomes the parameter determining the height, length and floor thickness of the prison cell. Stripped bubbles and triangular mass are the two construction techniques that respond to the energy parameters. They don’t only function as the skin and floor, but also provide sunshades and thermal mass for each cell, according to their own energy conditions.
Our design functions effectively as a prison. This vertical arrangement ensures the security and prisoners’ privacy at the same time. The terraced individual cells can be all viewed at one time by the guards on the two ends. The separate circulations for the prisoners and guards prevent possible corruption between the two parties.
The construction techniques adapt to various energy conditions on the site effectively, thus enabling us to foresee a possible vertical expansion of the prison. It is be a prison that is born from the stadium, lives with and gives new life to the context.
Shujie Chen and Charlotte Arrès
