Comments on: Crusher Collins cracks Containerisation

By: braaap

braaap — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:43:44 +0000

They should only get the 3 slices of bread for good behaviour too

By: braaap

braaap — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:42:02 +0000

I think that they should be kept in containers with at least 5 prisoners in each of them. The more serious criminals (murder etc) should be in with other murderers and should have a plain container and get 30 mins of exercise and 3 slices of bread a day. The toilet should be a little rubbish bin and have a small skylight, their beds should be a tiny peice of wood with splinters. That would save the costs on building each cell. No insulation and definately not heat pumps as the government should be trying to help the non-offenders with house insulation etc.

By: Maximus

Maximus — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:52:33 +0000

honeywood – you name-checked Whale Oil but not us at the Fish? Bother. Clearly a whale beats a fish any day. But its quality, not quantity, that we deal with here….

By: mobsta

mobsta — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:48:33 +0000

�I reckon this is just another case of bad spinning by the Nats. It seems fairly obvious that if the Corrections Dept are to unveil a prototype or two on Thursday as rumoured, that this has been going on for quite a while�.�

…and so it came to pass……
Did anyone see the prototypes of the container cells on the news over the weekend?
It didn’t look like they were knocked up in 2 or 3 days.

By: Frederick

Frederick — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:40:18 +0000

I know that prison architecture is not really trying to be an architectural masterpiece for the purposes of the inmates, but does it have to be all so awful looking? Stacked up, one on top of another, they just look like blank walls and are not a good look for anyone to have in their neighbourhood (even the residents of Rimutaka deserve better than that).

What about taking as a design inspiration the work of Moshe Safdie at Habitat 67 in Montreal ? 40 years on and it still looks fantastic. And it might inspire the poor buggers locked up to become more, to make something of themselves.

Architecture can free the mind, even if it also locks up the body.

By: Maximus

Maximus — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:25:05 +0000

There is also a book called Container Architecture, by Jure Kotnik, which looks like a fairly authoritative combendium. I haven’t got a copy – you could try the Arch School Library – they might have it.

There is another book called Prison architecture – by Leslie Fairweather and Sean McConville – which features some info on containerisation of inmates – including new UK prisons in places like Preston. My one experience of Preston is that living in a container there might be an improvement on the rest of the housing stock there.

But for pure entertainment on this cold weekend, I’d recommend that you rush away from your waterfront pad and get yourself to Aro Video, and see if they have a copy of the 1985 film “Space Rage”, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090054/ which apparently has lots of Prisoners held in containers. Unfortunately, as the film is also known as “Space Rage Breakout on Prison Planet” then it implies that perhaps you can’t rely on containers for secure accommodation. Or perhaps there was an attack from alien space monsters who let the prisoners free. Maybe you should invite Crusher Collins around to watch the movie together…

By: Maximus

Maximus — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:09:13 +0000

Honeywood – there is a wealth of information out there about companies converting shipping containers into holiday homes etc,
for a start there is the NZ Company called Habode http://www.habode.com/ with a bach in a container.
and then there is also the local Wellington -based French / NZ architects http://www.atelierworkshop.com/ who are doing great things with a portable bach that unpacks from a container. Interestingly, both of these have their containers converted in China, and while they are obviously not the right thing to keep prisoners locked up in, they do both have good experience with the issues about container conversions. Atelier Workshop’s product is called, with typical French flair, the Port a Bach : http://www.port-a-bach.com/

By: helen

helen — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:44:24 +0000

It’s the issue more fundamental that prison cells? – why does NZ have such a high number of people in prisons? Perhaps I’m naive – but it seems to be that if we don’t address why we lock up so many people the cost of the architecture will never be able to keep up … but since you raised the issue – surely this is an issue of design quality rather than whether to shipping container or not. Honeywood Robin Evans has a nice book on Prison architecture – I think it’s called “The fabrication of virtue”

By: Honeywood

Honeywood — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:05:59 +0000

I will be talking to Kathryn Ryan on Nine to Noon on Monday at 11.45am about prison architecture and the design merits (if any) of using containers. Any links and/or suggestions happily received.

By: Deepred

Deepred — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:57:44 +0000

And sadly the story is the same in other New World nations too. The way things are going, they’ll get worse before they can get better. Does Attica spring to mind?