Blog 1: Ethics of Jail Cell Architecture

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/17/arts/design/prison-architecture-and-the-question-of-ethics.html?_r=0

This is an article about ethical issues surrounding architects who design and build jails. The first part of the article discusses a petition that the American Institute of Architects rejected. The petition would have censured members who were involved with designing death chambers and solitary-confinement cells. The institute decided that it was not up to them whether their members should be able to take part in these projects. Rather, the institute stated that its members' ethics should determine whether this is a type of project they want to take part in.

The article also discussed the code of ethics that architectural organizations hold regarding project such as jail cells. The companies that build jail cells and solitary confinement buildings are, according to this article, more interested in making money than sticking to ethical standards for human rights. This has lead to an ethics issue for architects who want to be involved in these sort of projects in order to make the world a better place. As the first chapter of our textbook describes, ethics is a very personal set of beliefs that stem from our childhood. Therefore, it is not right for an institute such as the American Institute of Architects to decide for their members what is or is not ethical.