31–40 of 42 posts
If one person could rotate the whole thing with a crank, why couldn't the prisoners do the same by holding the bars and pushing on the walls? Anyway, this reminded me of the mechanical fortress from Myst.
If one person could rotate the whole thing with a crank, why couldn't the prisoners do the same by holding the bars and pushing on the walls? Anyway, this reminded me of the mechanical fortress from Myst.
Alternatively, they could simply have a external lock on rotation that's engaged when someone's not actively moving the cells.
There's some kind of sickening scroll acceleration applied to this page, making it exceedingly frustrating to use with a magic mouse. Not surprised due to level of shit shoveled onto the site, but I have no idea why anybody would want to subject their users to this.
I was reminded of the panopticon [1] prison design paradigm. The rotary controls the prisoners physically by only allowing one cell door to be open at once, while the panopticon doesn't necessarily limit how many doors are open at once. The rotary jail doesn't make it easier to watch the prisoners, while the panopticon allows the wardens to convince the wards that they are always watched. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org…
I was reminded of the panopticon [1] prison design paradigm. The rotary controls the prisoners physically by only allowing one cell door to be open at once, while the panopticon doesn't necessarily limit how many doors are open at once. The rotary jail doesn't make it easier to watch the prisoners, while the panopticon allows the wardens to convince the wards that they are always watched. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org…
"Why Brown and Haugh went the convoluted route and chose to rotate the cells instead of the circular cage, is a mystery." Any guesses? It does seem like a dumb idea to rotate the massively larger/heavier cells.
Serving food is simpler since you can just carry a cart with say a soup pot on one entrance and hand in bowls of it while the thing rotates. With moving door you'd have to keep moving the pot or pre-laddle the soup.
Same goes for all other housekeeping tasks. When the prisoners take their linen and clothes to wash they can not have any contact with other prisoners as they don't walk past their cells.
Bringing prisoners in is easier since they will always move along the same exact route no matter what since that is where the door is.
You could also potentially keep the prisoners from knowing who is in the same jail as them if you don't let them see one another. Obviously sound still carries, but some prisoners might not want to talk, so you could also consider it a privacy feature.
It also means you can firmly attach the bars to floor and ceiling making the cells more secure.
These are just off the top of my head, I'm sure there are others as well. While I can not think a single good reason why the bars should move.
This sounds inhumane and thus unlikely to happen in modern prison design (which tbh is more of a jobs program these days than actually designing for restitution or rehabilitation) "The rotary jails had many design problems. For example, in the event of fire, it was not possible to evacuate the inmates fast enough".
Only real fire related threat I can see is if a prisoner for some reason wants to set himself on fire and succeeds. Putting him out might take too long.
As for the inhumane part. I personally don't see it and I think our prisons are little too nice currently, but I'm from a country that doesn't run for-profit prisons.
"Why Brown and Haugh went the convoluted route and chose to rotate the cells instead of the circular cage, is a mystery." Any guesses? It does seem like a dumb idea to rotate the massively larger/heavier cells.
Securing one entrance well is easier than moving along with revolving one. It is way simpler to stand still and aim with a gun than walk along shifting door way and aim a gun. Serving food is simpler since you can just carry a cart with say a soup pot on one entrance and hand in bowls of it while the thing rotates. With moving door you'd have to keep moving the pot or pre-laddle the soup. Same goes for all other hous…
It’s cheaper to build?
This sounds inhumane and thus unlikely to happen in modern prison design (which tbh is more of a jobs program these days than actually designing for restitution or rehabilitation) "The rotary jails had many design problems. For example, in the event of fire, it was not possible to evacuate the inmates fast enough".