Prison architecture in Turkey and around the world and discussion of current design criteria

The structures (such as palaces, castles, fortresses, towers, shipyards, residences of the various state officials, etc.) built with different purposes were used for imprisonment in the times when prison was not a type of structure. The first example of a structure for the punishment of a criminal emerged in the 16th century and it was designed by being evaluated in terms of need and function in the 18th century. The necessities of human values and reintegration of a criminal into the society were considered in the 20th century and designs of such concept have reached until today. Different punishment methods have been applied and various prison designs have been made in this regard from past to present. Although developed standards and guidelines, a great number of prisons built in large areas and financially requiring large budgets vary according to the region, culture, belief and social differences. Rental houses and shops, houses of religious officials for female criminals, structures built with different purposes in the Ottoman Period in Turkey were used to imprison the criminals. These structures used for this purpose in the earlier stages of the Turkish Republic Period were restored and then other types of prison structures built with lettering system within the scope of the Ministry of Justice were used. The prisons built after the year of 2000 were designed in accordance with the European Prison Standards. Within the scope of the thesis; development and change processes of prisons in the World and Turkey have been examined and it has been concluded that principles of "punishment of a criminal, meeting the humanitarian needs of a criminal and changing a criminal into a person useful for society" can be achieved with the cooperation of relevant disciplines (architecture, prison director, lawyer, sociologist, psychologist) in design processes. Keywords: Prison, jail, prisoner, crime, criminal, convict, imprisoned, penalty.