Similarities Between Prison And The Prison

Introduction
While reviewing some of the more noticeable aspects that are different or similar between the prison and the penitentiary, it is essential to note that it is not only the physical architecture that is being examined but also how they function. The Penitentiary and the Prison have both made changes to the function of their establishment during the course of their existence. As the times changed so did they, often in order to meet the demands that society placed on them during a given era. These demands were often in relation to the treatment of the prisoners. Even though the majority of the time it was the society outside the walls of the penitentiary or prison in question that influenced them, the call for change could also be
demanded by the inmates themselves. When you look at these two facilities side by side they may appear to be nearly identical, however if you dive a little deeper into their individual backgrounds then you find that most of the things that they have in common are only on the surface. Both the Eastern State Penitentiary and the Pilsen Prison have origins that draw the two different facilities together. Despite being located on opposite sides of the world, they were both created during a similar time period, with different cultural influences, during the 1800s. As such, elements of the Eastern State Penitentiary can be seen throughout different time periods, specifically the Pilsen Prison, because of the inspiration that other architects drew from the famous design of the penitentiary.

Description of Historic Cultural Form of the Precedent
The Eastern State Penitentiary was built in 1829 in Philadelphia, United States and has stood for one hundred and eighty-six years.
It was originally built on top of the Walnut Street Jail which was constructed to help with prisoner overflow from the surrounding prisons. (Johnston, 2000, p.68). The land itself was initially a cherry orchard at the top of a hill which was what earned the penitentiary its first name of the Cherry Hill Prison. It was originally designed by the architect John Haviland and it was the first in its kind and revolutionized the way that prisons were planned. (Johnston, 2000, p.70). This changed the prison system and the way that prisoners were held. Although the Pennsylvania system of confinement was considered an excellent method at the time, it was not practical for the amount of inmates that the Eastern State Penitentiary was receiving to continue on using that approach. The Pennsylvania system was all about keeping prisoners isolated at all times, in an attempt to make the prisoners repent or contemplate what they had done; it stopped working long before it was abandoned in 1913. (Dolan, 2007, p.8). This was because prisoners found ways to communicate, guards just stopped caring and they did not have enough resources to keep inmates in individual cells especially once the penitentiary’s population began to grow. (Johnston, 2000, p.70). The Eastern State Penitentiary eventually closed in 1971. (Dolan, 2007,
p.8)

The Eastern State Penitentiary was designed so that guards could see virtually the entire prison yard from a tower located at the center of the prison grounds.
The cell blocks extend out from the center watchtower so that from the air it looks like a wagon wheel. (Andrzejewski, 2008, p.25). This meant that the original design of the penitentiary was almost completely symmetrical. Every part of the penitentiary was intended to be intimidating. The outside of the wall that surrounded the entire twelve acres of the penitentiary was made out of stone and brick. This wall is presently eighty feet high and between three to eight feet thick. It has grotesques, which are gargoyle-like statues, at the entrance to the penitentiary. These statues are meant to intimidate anyone who enters the penitentiary, especially those who are going to be incarcerated within its walls. (Dolan, 2007, p.10). The original cells were designed with vaulted ceilings so that if the prisoners tried to speak to each other their voices would echo and be heard by the guards. The older cells had three openings in them; one for the door, one for the skylight and one for a small hatch in the wall where guards would pass the prisoners food or other supplies. The only light source was the skylight. Any of the cell blocks that were added on later had flat ceilings, a regular window on the wall and could even be a double cell. (Johnston, 2000,
pp.70-71)