Miranda Rodrigues
BIO
I plan to pursue my masters in architecture after I graduate from the program, and eventually, the goal is to create my own sustainable firm. My interests tend to lean towards technical drawings on AutoCAD, as well as 3D rendering and modeling on Sketchup.
Thesis Project
Restoration Sanctum
The Restoration Sanctum is a rehabilitation facility and outreach program that will provide released inmates with a safe environment. The intent is to motivate them to find their way back into society with a natural atmosphere while offering services such as skill-building activities, counselling and legal assistance. The Restoration Sanctum will enable the de-stigmatization of inmates, give them support from their community, and allow them to rebuild themselves.
Preliminary
Prisons are meant to be a place of rehabilitation and reconciliation, where one goes to focus on what they did, why they did it, and try to get better for when they are released so they do not end up back in prison - but most prisons today do not do any of those things listed. This research is to recognize the harmful design of prisons and correctional facilities and deconstruct them to aid rehabilitation for release. Understanding that prisons and correctional facilities are temporarily housing people, regardless of the duration of their sentences, can be beneficial in the long-run and give inmates from a fighting chance to stay on the path of rehabilitation.