Could Malaysia have a 'vertical prison'?

The 'vertical prison'

Malaysian architecture students Chow Khoon Toong, Ong Tien Yee, and Beh Ssi Cze have won the eVolo Magazine 2010 Skyscraper Competition with a design for a 'vertical prison'.

The annual Skyscraper Competition was founded to recognise "outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the use of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organization.

The award seeks to discover young talents whose ideas will change the way we understand architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments."

It certainly appears to have done that with this unique 'prison city in the sky', which would see inmates live in a "free" and productive community with agricultural fields and factories that would support the host city below.

Rehabilitating in a desirable community

The designer's idea came about as, in their own words, "studies reveal that post-release offenses are very high and that criminal’s imprisonment is just a temporal solution because they do not have the opportunity to rehabilitate in a desirable community.

This project examines the possibility of creating a vertical prison in the sky where inmates will have to work and live in a community that will contribute to the host city below. The prison will have agricultural fields, factories, and recyclable plants that will be operated by the offenders as a way to give back to the community. They will live "free" until they have completed their sentence and are prepared to rejoin their communities.

The vertical prison has its own transportation system which consists of different "pods" for officers, prisoners, firefighters, and other workers."

So a prison without walls, but with a long way to fall - it's an interesting idea, and if in the situation of a riot an armored riot control pod with fast roping capability allow for rapid deployment of riot control team while the armored riot control pod serve as a mobile operation base and observation platform to control and monitor the situation from above.

It is an unique and fascinating concept, and the idea of allowing inmates to help support their own community whilst paying back to the society is a great one.

However, how would you feel about a prison situated several hundred feet above you? And more importantly, could they simply abseil down if they tie enough sheets together?!

To find out more about the award-winning design, click here.

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Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

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