This team project is a design concept for the Sing Sing Museum Preview Center, located in the working Sing Sing Prison of Ossining.
The story of how we treat each other is still being written.
The "Ensemble" Preview Center aims to unveil the truth about mass incarceration in the United States and its impacts on our society.
The preview center will therefore allow for a personalized experience for each visitor in order to understand the current happenings of the US justice system and educate public in hopes of sparking a dialogue; a link between Sing Sing Prison and Society.
The primary audience of the "Ensemble" will be tourists; United States citizens and overseas visitors, the secondary will include both inmates’ families & friends, and previously incarcerated individuals, the tertiary audience will be the local people of Ossining.
"Ensemble" Preview Center will educate and encourage visitors to learn more about the United States Criminal Justice System. Our goal is to indirectly give hope and voice to inmates and allow them to share their point of view.
Talking digital portraits of inmates, families, corrections officers and activists will welcome the visitors and present different POVs.
The Reflections' Booth is inspired by the IVR Game of Courtney Cogburn, Assistant Professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work. We developed a decision making tool to encourage people to think the racial bias in our justice system and develop empathy for the incarcerated.
The Auditorium is where visitors can take a pause and interact actively or passively with the Animated Infographics. This flexible space can be used by the community, hosting events such as lectures and talks.
Our goal is to create an open-plan, bright and inviting space, where the visitors can feel welcome, without forgetting the special past of the facility. Therefore, we highlighted the materials that already exist in the space.
The wayfinding is designed to guide almost instinctively the Ensemble audience, but also to attract visitors that pass through Ossining to reach the nearby touristic and cultural attractions of NYS.
The name Sing Sing Prison inspires musical metaphors, that we used through the Interactive Posters. The public sees them in train stations and accesses selected songs that raise awareness about Racial Oppression.
As an "Ensemble", we can orchestrate a team effort to start a dialogue concerning the flaming topics of everyday life.
Design Team: May Ghadanfar, Savannah Sears, Tina Columbus
This project was created in December 2018, for the Exhibit Design Studio of Michele Washington and Robin Drake, in the Master’s Program of Exhibition and Experience Design, Fashion Institute Technology, NY.
We would like to thank especially the corrections officer Arthur Wolpinsky, for providing us a tour of the Sing Sing Prison Facilities.
