On the Smart Prison Project in Finland / Pia Puolakka

There are splitting views in the design profession on the role of architects in the perpetuation and even existence of prisons, which stems from an ethical and a professional belief that incarceration is not the most optimum solution to crime and that the very design of prisons creates conditions that subject the inmates to inhuman living conditions. While in the previous episode we focused an alternate method of seeking justice, for this one, we wanted to look at what is happening in the world of prison reforms.

Pia Puolakka trained as a forensic psychologist and has been working as a prison psychologist for the Criminal Sanctions Agency in Finland. In 2018, she was appointed as the project manager of the Smart Prison Project, where she developed digital services for prison inmates’ rehabilitation.

Pia’s article on the Smart Prison Project: https://www.penalreform.org/blog/towards-digitalisation-of-prisons-finlands-smart-prison-project/