The Sante, A Jail in Paris

There is no place here for the architect’s imagination or fantasy. The building is a manifestation of social administration. The La Santé Prison was built in Paris by Emile Vaudremer between 1861 and 1867. It was a model prison, at the forefront of incarceration theory, in which a marked obsession with physical and moral hygiene is evident. This modern prison, equipped with the most advanced equipment of its era, features a dark side of architecture: all pleasure is absent, and efficiency and control reign supreme.