A hunger strike in California state prisons has cast a spotlight on living conditions, specifically indefinite solitary confinement in Security Housing Units, known as SHUs. And it’s not just human rights groups and inmates who are concerned about them. Raphael Sperry challenges his fellow architects to ban the design of SHUs. Beverly Prior reflects on a career in prison and finds that good design can help rehabilitation, while Joe Day reflects on the simultaneous growth of American prisons and museums.
Back on the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, the Petersen Automotive Museum shifts into high gear, with a dramatic “face-lift” explained by Terry Karges.