Alberto Urrutia-Moldes holds a PhD in prison architecture from the University of Sheffield in the UK. He also has a BSc in Industrial Engineering (2008) and a BSc in Construction Management (1993), both from the University of the Bío-Bío in Chile. After graduating as Construction Manager, he started working in the construction industry for private companies until 1998, when he was appointed head of the regional office of infrastructure at the Bío-Bío Regional Directorate of the Chilean prison service in the city of Concepción. In this capacity, Alberto was responsible for addressing the needs of the 24 prison and parole facilities across 14 cities in the Bío-Bío region. He was later appointed as the head of the projects and planning office at the same regional directorate. In tandem with his job in the Chilean prison service, he has worked since 2006 as a part-time lecturer in construction management at the School of Construction Engineering at the University of the Bío-Bío. In 2012 he co-organised – with the Faculty of Architecture at the University of the Bío-Bío – the first conference in prison architecture held in Chile, and then co-edited the book 1st Seminar of Prison Architecture for Social Reinsertion, which contains the main presentations of the two-day conference. In 2014 he moved to the UK, where he started his PhD programme, being awarded a Doctoral degree in March 2020.
Health and Well-Being in Prison Design is an overview of how prison architecture and design can support psychological and ethical principles to enable offenders' rehabilitation. I highly recommend this book to those who want to develop the prison system. Pia Puolakka, Project Manager of Smart Prison project, Criminal Sanctions Agency, Finland Health and Well-Being in Prison Design is an academically grounded plea for more humanity in prison design. Prisons are not containers for holding human beings securely. Dr. Urrutia-Moldes reminds us that well-designed prison facilities are essential for the enhancement of inmates' health and well-being. A much-needed guide for prison designers and policy-makers, this book pinpoints key human factors affecting well-being in prison and, ultimately, the prisoners' rehabilitation chances. The important message is that there is no need to choose between security and well-being in prisons. Security can be strengthened by improving the inmates' well-being, also through careful and considerate prison design. Piera Barzano, former Senior Interregional Advisor (Penal reform), UNODC, Vienna In this book, you will identify the philosophies behind architectural models of prisons, which focus on repression, security, rehabilitation, or hybrid approaches. By disclosing the physical and psychological aggressors on the well-being of inmates and prison staff, this monograph emerges as a critical tool to make evidence-based decisions, particularly for developing countries, to promote positive and lasting change. Alberto Urzua Toledo, Director of the Centre for Public Innovations for Latin America Dr Urrutia-Moldes has written a comprehensive, must-read text on how the justice system can contribute to a more civilized society through improved design of prisons. His analysis of the pathways to intelligent and humane prison design is excellent. This book will serve as a wake-up call for prison designers as well as correctional authorities. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the development of our prison systems. It will give you a rare insight into prison design, whether you are a government official, social scientist, designer, or first-year student. I hope that this book will be a required curriculum in education, from prison staff to students of architecture and social sciences. Health and Well-Being in Prison Design by Dr Urrutia-Moldes is a good read and highly relevant for designers not only of prisons but also of other social institutions for vulnerable citizens. Stein Erik Laeskogen MSc., Principal Engineer, The Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property (Statsbygg)