La ciudad de los réprobos

Overview & Synopsis

What ideas and social effects did prison projects have for Buenos Aires between 1869 and 1927? In a context of significant cultural, urban, and demographic changes, the deprivation of liberty began to be conceived by some sectors of the leadership as a means of control, normalization, and social regeneration. This led to the development of various projects that, whether built or not, represented ideal spatial and territorial proposals—devices for invisibilization and moral correction that managed to condense an image of that culture, an idea of a city aspiring to be modern. Through the examination of various materials, the author reveals the different imaginaries that converge in these prison projects; the construction of this particular object of study allows for an original reading of the city and its sites.