VERTICAL
INTEGRATION
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499 Summit is a speculative research project that takes a critical look into the status quo of the US prison facilities, and reimagines the prison as an urban high-rise penitentiary in Journal Square, Jersey City.
The massing consists of three arches - each accommodation a three-step circulation sequence, reflecting different phases of the facility: Incarceration (Up), Transformation (Over), and Integration (Down). The arches begin isolated during the incarceration phase and merge together both physically and programmatically during the integration phase. As the inmates graduate through the facility, they are being exposed to an increasing degree of social interaction, to make the transition back into society as soft as possible. To catalyst this process, public program and residential housing are introduced in the integration phase downwards.
