The Throne is King: The Impact of the Prison Toilet

By Kerry Feeney

It isn’t glamorous, and maybe architects don’t want to admit it, but we talk about toilets a lot. Whether it is the actual plumbing, occupancy issues, or barrier-free design, the toilet figures prominently in an architect’s life. But in a correctional environment, the throne is king. The decisions we make as designers and operators about where the toilets are located, how they are controlled, how many there will be, and even what they are made of, will have bearing on those living and working in these facilities in ways that are more complicated and profound that just providing a device to accept waste.

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Therapeutic Environments Within a Prison Setting

By Robert Boraks

There are currently 1 million mentally ill individuals who are incarcerated in United States jails – jails that are not designed to act as therapeutic environments, and staffed by officers that have not been given the benefit of psychiatric or psychological training. The situation is little better in Canada. Understandably, current correctional facilities have largely been designed to incarcerate and separate rather than heal and rehabilitate.

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The First Canadian AAJ Chapter: Toronto

By Mark Krapez

The inaugural meeting of the Toronto AAJ chapter was held on June 29th in Toronto, Ontario. The event was hosted by NORR Architects and Engineers, a prominent Canadian and international design firm who have completed several new courthouses in the past decade. A special thanks to David Clusiau who took up the challenge to become chair of the first AAJ chapter in Canada and appoint the vice chairs, secretary, liaison to the Royal Architectural Institute and treasurer.

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AIA Knowledge Leadership Assembly Reflections and Outcomes

By Erin Persky, on behalf of the AAJ Leadership Group

In July, the AAJ Leadership Group (LG) traveled to Denver to participate in the AIA Knowledge Leadership Assembly (KLA). Representatives from all 21 Knowledge Communities and several AIA staff were in attendance to contribute to the conference, entitled “Crucial Conversations,” during which we had the opportunity to strategize ways to improve exposure of each knowledge community and dissemination of content, learn about new AIA resources, and discuss issues facing the field of architecture as a whole. Perhaps most importantly, the conference provided several opportunities for the LG to discuss plans related to AAJ.

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What has AIA’s 2030 Commitment done for you, lately?? A meet-and-greet with Melissa Wackerle and AIA’s Design Data Exchange

By Julia Hughes

You may already know that the AIA proudly rolled out their 2030 Commitment online reporting portal, the 2030 Design Data Exchange (DDx), at their 2015 convention. I was able to get direct access to the architect of the program, Melissa Wackerle, AIA’s Director of Sustainable Practice & Knowledge and staff lead for AIA’s 2030 Commitment about the DDx tool. She shared great insight into the program’s features and upgrades, which I was anxious to share with AAJ.

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• Continuing Education - Earn up to 19.5 LUs, including 16.5 HSW LUs
• Choose your track - Whether you're focused on courts or sustainability, attend relevant sessions
• JFR Dinner - End a great day of education and exhibits and networking with some fun!
• Exhibitors - Meet with over 30 different companies for up-to-date industry information
• Visioning Event - Experience a public participatory process, generating ideas for your own projects

Four Great Plenary Sessions during the Conference

Transforming Mental Health Systems: A Judicial Perspective -- Hon. Steven Leifman
Judge Leifman will discuss the essential elements necessary to create an effective system of care that ultimately will transform the mental health and criminal justice systems.

A Vision for Addressing Mental Illness in the Justice System -- Dr. Mary Livers
Dr. Livers will discuss the obstacles of diverting funding from corrections programs to mental health programs and ultimately, what her vision means for the support of individuals and for communities.

Social Innovators and Unprecedented Bipartisan Partnerships Bring Real Change -- Dreamcorps staff
We’ll explore ways in which our Sustainable Justice Guidelines and other resources such as DreamCorps’ online database of policy solutions can build strategic alliances to make change happen, NOW.

Forecasting Future Designs -- Major Patrick Tighe
Conventional data mining, legislative initiatives, political agendas and civil action groups all point to a major shift in the existing correctional paradigm, to one that places focus on a holistic approach.

Professionally-reviewed research is available through the Building Research Information Knowledgebase (BRIK). The BRIK collection is free and can be navigated by categories such as building type: judicial facilities. This portal now includes a subscription feature to three EBSCO databases: the Sustainability Reference Center, Art & Architecture Complete, and the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals. The EBSCO-powered portion of BRIK is offered to AIA members and to NIBS members.