Abstract
The project, Kaleidos, is the story of a transformative rehabilitation system that redefines the experience of incarceration. It targets individuals undergoing psychological recovery, creating a dynamic, non-linear journey of healing. This architecture does more than confine—it evolves, adapts, and interacts with its users, guiding them through stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It confronts the static and punitive nature of traditional prison systems, as well as the societal stigma surrounding incarceration and mental health. The project gains its finality by merging computational design, symbolic geometries, and immersive environments to create a space that embodies fluidity and transformation. By integrating historical context with futuristic systems, it offers inmates a journey toward self-discovery and redemption, culminating in liberation and renewal.
Design Concept
Kaleidos redefines prisons as spaces of transformation and healing, inspired by the spiral of life to symbolize the non-linear journey of recovery. Rooted in computational design, the structure adapts Boy’s Surface, representing infinite loops and growth. Cells swarm dynamically along this surface, guided by field logic and clustering to reflect fluidity and adaptability. Each cell evolves geometrically from a cube to a dodecahedron, mirroring psychological stages like denial, anger, and acceptance. AR/VR integration enhances the experience, immersing users in environments tailored for reflection and growth.
Merging with the historic Alcatraz structure, the intervention balances past and future, creating a narrative of redemption. Through visual and auditory connectivity, it fosters collective healing, transforming the prison into a dynamic, liberating environment for growth and renewal.
Computational Design Methodology
The methodology integrates computational design and swarm logic to create a dynamic, adaptive architectural system. Boy’s Surface, a mathematical model symbolizing infinite growth, serves as the foundation. Cells, evolving from cubes to dodecahedrons, reflect psychological stages and are distributed along this surface using parametric tools aligned with surface normal.
Swarming behavior, guided by field logic and attractors, introduces non-linear motion, mirroring the fluidity of healing. Algorithms like Anemone and Perlin Noise generate motion paths, balancing randomness with control. Clustering techniques ensure cells aggregate meaningfully, aligning spatial and psychological needs. AR/VR integration enriches the user experience, immersing them in personalized, evolving environments. This precise, iterative process results in a system that adapts fluidly to context and user needs, redefining rehabilitation architecture.
Explorations and Learnings from Failures:
In our exploration of computational methodologies, swarming using Perlin Noise revealed significant challenges. While the algorithm effectively generated random motion, the resulting swarming behavior was overly chaotic and lacked spatial coherence. This randomness, while dynamic, hindered the formation of meaningful clusters and disrupted the intended psychological narrative of controlled growth and healing. Similarly, aggregation after swarming presented issues with excessive randomness in cell distribution. The lack of structure in the aggregation process led to irregular clustering, reducing the spatial and functional legibility required for the design. These experiments highlighted the importance of balancing randomness with control to align with the project’s goals of creating fluid yet cohesive architectural systems.
These failures became valuable learning opportunities, guiding us toward more refined approaches that integrated controlled field logic and clustering methodologies to achieve both dynamism and spatial clarity.
Form Finding Process
The form-finding process was driven by computational techniques and the symbolic inspiration of infinite growth and transformation. The design began with Boy’s Surface, a mathematical geometry representing non-orientable, infinite loops, chosen for its alignment with the project’s themes of fluidity and continuity. This surface was refined through parametric manipulation, including graph mapping and point adjustments, to adapt it to the building’s context while maintaining its symbolic depth.
Cells were conceptualized as dynamic units transitioning from cubes to dodecahedrons, symbolizing the psychological stages of healing. This transformation was carefully crafted to maintain geometric coherence while expressing emotional evolution. These cells were distributed across the adapted Boy’s Surface, aligned with surface Normals for smooth integration. To introduce motion and adaptability, swarming behavior was applied using field-driven logic influenced by attractors and curve sources. This allowed the cells to swarm and cluster dynamically, reflecting the non-linear and evolving nature of rehabilitation. Swarming patterns were further refined to achieve balance between randomness and structure, ensuring meaningful aggregation of cells.
Cell Design:
Envelope form finding process:
Boy’s surface:
As an immersion of the real projective plane in three-dimensional space.
the equations explicitly in terms of the standard form for a nonrentable surface,
Envelope form finding process:
Envelope form finding process:
To enhance fluidity, swarming behavior was introduced, leveraging field-driven algorithms such as attractors and curves. These fields directed the cells’ motion, creating a dynamic flow that reflects the unpredictable yet purposeful nature of rehabilitation. The swarming motion was refined using tools like Anemone and Perlin Noise, generating paths for the cells to follow. However, excessive randomness in early experiments revealed the need for controlled aggregation to maintain spatial clarity and coherence.
Drawings and sectional study showcasing the design:
In the plan, the intervention is carefully woven into the existing structure of Alcatraz, preserving its historical essence while introducing transformative spaces. The layout is not static but adaptable, with spaces designed for interaction, reflection, and rehabilitation. Open zones are interspersed with denser areas, allowing for a balance between isolation and connectivity. Visual corridors and pathways ensure a seamless transition between cells and stages, guiding the users through their journey.
The sections highlight the vertical interplay between levels, illustrating how cells are positioned across the Boy’s Surface. The structure evolves from enclosed, intimate spaces at lower levels to more open, expansive areas as users progress toward acceptance and redemption. Sections also reveal the integration of light and materiality, with openings strategically placed to provide dynamic lighting conditions that shift throughout the day, enhancing the psychological atmosphere.
Connectivity between cells is a key feature in the sections, facilitated by visual and auditory links, promoting interaction without compromising individual privacy. The sectional views also demonstrate the merging of the existing and the proposed, with the intervention respecting the scale and materiality of the original structure while introducing a sense of motion and growth. These elements come together to create a plan and sectional narrative that supports the transformative journey of the users.
Visualizations and Ideation
The aerial visualization showcases the broader interaction between the intervention and the existing Alcatraz site. From above, the swarming cells are visible as clusters distributed across the flowing geometry of Boy’s Surface, reflecting the dynamic movement and adaptability of the design. The juxtaposition between the static, historic forms of Alcatraz and the organic, evolving nature of the intervention creates a powerful narrative of transformation. The view emphasizes the symbiosis between the past and the present, highlighting how the intervention revives the site while respecting its legacy. The openness of the structure invites engagement with the natural surroundings, fostering a connection between users, architecture, and the environment.
Human-Eye View
The human-eye visualization captures the intimate experience of the structure at ground level. It portrays the cells as dynamic, motion-infused elements, constantly shifting in form and arrangement. The visualization emphasizes the fluidity of the design, illustrating its responsiveness to the user’s journey and the evolving psychological states it represents. The interplay of light, shadow, and material texture is evident, reinforcing the emotional depth of the spaces. The perspective conveys a sense of motion and life, reflecting the continuous process of healing and transformation that the architecture facilitates.
Concluding Note:
This project is more than an architectural intervention; it is a living, dynamic system that redefines the role of rehabilitation spaces. By integrating computational design, swarm logic, and symbolic geometries, the project transforms the traditional notion of incarceration into one of healing, growth, and connection. The design’s adaptability, rooted in the mathematical elegance of Boy’s Surface, embodies the non-linear journey of recovery. Its fluidity mirrors the complexities of the human psyche, while the integration of the historical Alcatraz site bridges the past with a transformative vision of the future. Through its evolving cells, immersive environments, and contextual sensitivity, the project fosters a profound connection between users, architecture, and their emotional journey. This project stands as a testament to the potential of design to heal, empower, and inspire, proving that architecture can be both a catalyst for change and a reflection of life’s infinite possibilities.
The other view showcases the user showcasing their existence
Kaleidos is a project of IAAC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed at Master in Advanced Computation for Architecture and Design – 2023-2024 in the course MaCAD 23/24 Complex Forming by students: Renuka Deshpande & Erva Hofi and faculty: Hesham Shawqy, Eva Papaspyrou and James McBennett.
