ILLINOIS — IEMI’s Joan Steffen and Kayleigh Hasson argued against proposed prison construction in the Chicago Tribune this month, alongside architect Raphael Sperry.
As the authors describe, the $1.1B prison, which is slated to replace two state correctional facilities, is not what Illinois communities need or want. Although the project has been framed as a humane replacement for decaying state prisons, the op-ed explains that previous carceral facilities that were justified in similar terms have failed to live up to that promise. Notably, people inside the Joliet Treatment Center, another new state facility that was positioned as a model for rehabilitation, have set over 60 fires in the past two years in response to poor conditions.
The op-ed also explains that the project would require architects to violate their own code of ethics. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) enacted a new ethics rule in 2020 against knowingly designing spaces “intended for torture, including indefinite or prolonged solitary confinement.” In Illinois, the new prison build would include “restrictive housing units,” Illinois’s term for solitary confinement.
The authors note that “Illinois Department of Corrections reported over 350 restrictive housing placements exceeding 15 days — the human rights standard recognized in the AIA Code of Ethics” and that “[a]t least nine people in Illinois’ restrictive housing died by suicide since June 2025.”
The op-ed calls on architects to consider their ethical obligations before responding to the current request for design bids for the new construction project, and urges them to pursue “alternative life-affirming projects” instead.