Uruguay

Prison to Prison, an Intimate Story between two Architectures is a project that explores the existence of an unprecedented free space inside the unlikeliest place and in close relationship with its larger opposite. In 2017, the largest building erected in Uruguay was a large-scale replica of a generic, imported, abstract model of a prison. Ironically enough, it was built adjacent to the existing prison often referred to as the “village jail.” A unique experience in which the prison is understood as a lively, vibrant neighbourhood that imitates the outside on the inside, resulting in an unexpected space for collective projects and negotiations inside a detention centre. The exhibition proposes research focusing on the juxtaposition of these two dierent realities in order to open other dialogues that exceed the study subjects themselves, enrich us, and help us to look and look at ourselves again. This is therefore the perfect excuse for us to reconnect with architecture and its generous, and necessary, cultural dimension enabling unexpected empowerments.