La arquitectura penitenciaria como representación del castigo. Las maneras de comprender la pena de prisión en la historia

Abstract

This article analyses the penitentiary architecture evolution, based on the notion of punishment deployed in a particular historical period. In this sense, it is described how the alteration on the understanding and on the underlying purpose of the chastisement, affects the designs and facilities of the prisons around the world. This study conducts a review throughout the prison history from antique times to our days through theories of criminal law. In this historical review it will be observed how the imprisonment became the mayor way of punishment as of nineteenth century. Today, the prison still remain in force in the penal system, nevertheless, two different prison models have emerged in the last century: on one side, the re-socialising prisons and, on the other side, the fully vigilant prisons.