An Architecture of Hope

Should architecture be used for punishment? How might the spaces we inhabit nurture or damage us? How can we begin to start over after the worst has happened?

Criminologist Yvonne Jewkes grapples with these questions every day as the world's leading expert on rehabilitative prison design; she also faces them in her personal life when her partner of 25 years leaves her in the middle of a nightmare renovation project and then lockdown sees her trapped there.

Used to fighting the punitive prison system to create spaces that encourage reflection, healing, even hope for those incarcerated, she must learn to be similarly compassionate to herself, as she considers what might help someone at the lowest point in their life to rebuild.

There are 11.5 million prisoners worldwide, and most of them will eventually be released back into society. Yvonne asks- 'Who would you rather have living next door to you? Or sitting on the train next to your daughter? Someone who has been treated with decency in an environment that has helped to heal them and instilled hope for their future? Or someone who has effectively been caged and dehumanised for years?' Challenging our expectations of what prisons are for, she takes us along their corridors, into cells, communal spaces, visitors' areas, and staffrooms, to the architects' studios where they are designed, and even into her own home, to show us the importance of an architecture of hope in the face of despair.

'A book full of insights to illuminate the way we look at architecture. Jewkes' beautiful descriptions not only evoke the feel of the air in a space, but also reveal the moral significance of its design. So refreshingly distinctive from other types of prison books - a beautiful meditation on the universal need for sanctuary, what it means when it is taken away from us, and the courage it takes to reclaim it.'
-Andy West, author of The Life Inside

'Yvonne Jewkes takes a vital question - what are prisons for? - and turns it into a much wider and beautifully written reflection on the meaning of home. Her book is full of hard-won authority and expertise conveyed in tenderly human ways.'
-Joe Moran, author of First You Write a Sentence

'If you think a book on prison architecture is not for you - think again. This book is so much more. A life affirming personal and professional narrative that teaches us all what it is like to be human - flawed, driven, and determined to survive. Jewkes impacted on my life at a moment when I didn't know I needed her.'
-Professor Lady Sue Black, Baroness Black of Strome