Restorative Justice Design Lab
Designing decarceration and investing in restorative justice
In the United States today, there are 2.3 million people incarcerated in over 1,800 correctional facilities, forming a vast punitive network that is unparalleled anywhere else in the world. The impact of this landscape is felt far beyond prison walls: from unjust practices of community development to policing, sentencing, and conviction, to incarceration and reentry—every step of our so-called justice system is in need of a reimagination. What would it look like if we as a society could rethink what true justice means—what it looks like?
Writing on the Wall Exhibit
“Deaf people must every day adapt to a world that is not designed for us so having a space designed by and for us allows us to relax and be our natural selves.”
—Jeffrey Mansfield on "Design for All," Architectural Digest, December 3, 2021
The Restorative Justice Design Lab (RJDL) creates a platform for cross-sector collaborations that seek to bring design to serve a radically reimagined justice system.
The lab supports partners working to end mass incarceration and investing in communities by providing a broad spectrum of design interventions.
Architecture of Deafness Exhibit
In collaboration with deaf artist Christine Sun Kim and curator Niels Van Toome, “Architecture of Deafness” was installed at the Tallinn Art Hall in Tallinn, Estonia, for an exhibition that closed in February. Courtesy of Architectural Digest and Karel Koplimets
The lab focuses on both long-term and short-term interventions: We believe it is essential to build new community justice spaces, expand mental health recovery, support harm reduction infrastructures, and invest in re-entry housing and support structures. RJDL seeks to promote a community-based restorative approach that invests in dignity and humanity for every member of society. We research, publish, and exhibit materials to challenge and change the narratives. We seek to close prison pipelines and divert people from the system through education and innovative courts. We advocate for restorative justice, community investment, and alternatives to incarceration.
This Design Lab seeks to engage a range of social sectors to plan the obsolescence of our current prison system through the following tactics:
- Engage with affected communities, incarcerated residents, youth, families and community members to advocate for human rights and restorative justice
- Leverage pre-market engagement and design to close prison pipelines and shut the front door to incarceration
- Build new community justice infrastructures based on values of restorative justice and healing
- Expand mental health recovery and substance abuse infrastructures
- Change the narrative around prison and criminality
