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The Surprising Second Lives of Prisons
Former houses of incarceration are being transformed into everything from luxury hotels to concert halls. This light and airy cultural center — a former provincial prison — manages to pull off that penal feel without giving any claustrophobic jitters.The 17th-century Convent of the Penitents has went through multiple transformations. It served as a prison in the 18th and 19th centuries then reopened as a music school in 1990. French design studio Opus 5 gave the historic complex a stunning revamp in 2012 that included the addition of a concert hall and music library.Her Majesty’s Prison in Belize City dates back to 1855. The facility didn’t close its doors until 1993 and spent the next decade undergoing refurbishments before the National Institute of Culture and History opened it as the Museum of Belize in 2002.A jail used to detain political prisoners during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, Valparaiso Prison closed in 1999 and re-opened in 2013 as the Cultural Park of Valparaiso. Past exhibits include the mural ‘A Pablo’ (For Pablo) by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei — a tribute to Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.No concrete cells here. Guests of the old Sultanahmet Prison — now a Four Seasons hotel — nod off in king-size beds with the finest linens.This jail 15 minutes north of Melbourne’s CBD was built in 1851, decommissioned in 1997 and recently converted into a hip space for everything from weddings and fashion shows to conferences and cocktail parties.
