California Conservation Camps

design research proposal for
UAL

Within the prison environment, the exercise of power has among its central aims the monitoring and discipline of the inmates to prevent them from reoffending. The design of these spaces inherently symbolises the physical manifestation of the institution’s objectives and approaches for dealing with convicted men and women. Therefore, one must first look at the rehabilitative properties of the prison structure itself. Focusing on the California Conservation Camps, which offer an alternate approach to labour and spatial design, has the potential to demonstrate whether an ethical prison structure can foster labour as a form of rehabilitation.

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The designed artefact has been conceived as an ‘imprisoned element’ within a container, which symbolises the Conservation Camps Program as a whole. A map of California is engraved on top of the container, made of laser-cut wooden sheets, as well as the thesis title. The element of wood both represents the camps interior design and the outdoor forestry work. In the Conservation Camps, wood is often implemented for furniture and doors (Johnston, 2000). Moreover, in structures such as the Mountain Home Conservation Camp, inmates are employed for the manufacturing of wood furnishings, including cabinets, workstations, picnic tables, arbours as well as lawn furniture. On the other hand, wood also symbolises the natural environment inmates are exposed to which, at the same time, try to safeguard during firefighting and forestry activities. An industrial-rigid typeface has been chosen for the titles, in order to illustrate the role labour plays in such institutions, which automatically turns prisoners into a continuous force of production. Finally, the designed artefact presents elements which, at first glance, are aimed to restrict the reader’s interaction with the thesis. This feature has been obtained by securing a padlock – provided with its respective key – to the container.