{"id":251673,"date":"2026-08-20T07:15:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=251673"},"modified":"2026-08-20T13:33:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:33:04","slug":"uconn-students-bring-landscape-design-to-connecticut-correctional-facilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/08\/uconn-students-bring-landscape-design-to-connecticut-correctional-facilities\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Students Bring Landscape Design to\u00a0Connecticut\u00a0Correctional Facilities\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a warm spring morning at\u00a0<\/span>York\u00a0Correctional\u00a0Institution<\/span><\/a> in Niantic – Connecticut\u2019s only state prison for women – a group of UConn landscape architecture students stepped into an environment unlike any they had studied before.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Carrying shovels instead of pencils, students joined correctional officers, incarcerated women, faculty members, and volunteers to transform portions of the facility with native trees, shrubs, and flowering perennials. The work capped months of planning and collaboration, but it also marked the start of a different kind of learning experience \u2014 one that challenged students to rethink how design shapes the places people live and work.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The project was part of a broader partnership between UConn\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy (IMRP)<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture,<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<\/span>Connecticut Department of\u00a0Correction<\/span><\/a>. Together, the organizations are exploring how thoughtful design\u00a0can help\u00a0create healthier\u00a0correctional environments while giving students real-world experience in a\u00a0challenging setting.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u00a0could tell some of\u00a0[the students]\u00a0were a little nervous at first, which is understandable,\u201d says\u00a0Officer\u00a0Steve\u00a0Smith, an 18-year veteran with the\u00a0Connecticut Department of\u00a0Correction.\u00a0\u201cThey saw firsthand what life inside a\u00a0correctional facility\u00a0is like\u00a0and understand the work that happens here every day. Experiences like that\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0be replicated in a\u00a0classroom.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For landscape architecture student\u00a0Eveleen Jiang\u00a0\u201926 (CAHNR),\u00a0the project\u00a0represented\u00a0a rare opportunity to take a design from\u00a0concept to implementation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of our projects are hypothetical,\u201d\u00a0says Jiang. \u201cWe try to design for the\u00a0client in the most ideal setting. Once\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0actually in\u00a0the prison,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a lot of regulation on what\u00a0you\u00a0can and\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0plant.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rethinking\u00a0Correctional Spaces<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

The initiative grew from IMRP\u2019s broader work on prison\u00a0culture\u00a0change and normalization.\u00a0The\u00a0concept focuses on\u00a0creating environments that support health, dignity,\u00a0and well-being for everyone who spends time in a\u00a0correctional facility, including incarcerated residents,\u00a0correctional officers,\u00a0staff,\u00a0and visitors.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Exterior
Green space at the entrance to Bergen Prison in Vestland, Norway. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Clark)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Andrew Clark, director of IMRP, which is housed in the School of Public Policy(opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, took a first immersion trip to Norway in 2022, when a Connecticut delegation visited correctional facilities, a halfway house and a nonprofit youth service provider.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe became aware of the vast difference in\u00a0correctional practices and spaces within Norway,\u201d says\u00a0Clark.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0contrast was striking.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNorwegian\u00a0correctional facilities have plantings, flowers, and\u00a0gardens,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Clark. \u201cIn some facilities, the\u00a0residents there\u00a0care for the plants and even grow their own\u00a0crops.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Clark, who had worked as a landscaper during\u00a0college\u00a0and in his 20s, saw those ideas as proof that physical spaces\u00a0can affect how people experience an environment.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the facilities that\u00a0Connecticut has are old and outdated and reflect a time when punishment was a main priority of policymakers for those who were incarcerated,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Clark. \u201cGoing to Norway and seeing beautiful\u00a0campuses that were based on a desire to foster rehabilitation and wellness made the impact of those facilities tangible.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey are still prisons,\u201d\u00a0Clark\u00a0continues,\u00a0\u201cbut when\u00a0you see people in those facilities, the immediate feeling\u00a0you have is not bleak or depressing.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0hopeful.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2024, IMRP began a formal partnership with\u00a0CTDOC\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Amend<\/span><\/a>, a prison-culture\u00a0change initiative out of the University of\u00a0California, San Francisco, to begin applying those principles in\u00a0Connecticut. The effort has included activity and resource teams, officer training, and beautification efforts focused on painting, murals, and plantings.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

York and\u00a0<\/span>Garner\u00a0Correctional Institution<\/span><\/a>, a men\u2019s mental health facility in\u00a0Newtown, were the first two\u00a0Connecticut\u00a0sites involved. The initiative\u00a0has expanded\u00a0to include\u00a0<\/span>MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in Suffield, the largest\u00a0correctional facility\u00a0in the Northeast, and the\u00a0<\/span>Maloney Center for Training and Staff Development<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in Cheshire.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Designing for\u00a0York<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

The landscape architecture\u00a0component\u00a0for York\u00a0grew from\u00a0a collaboration between Clark and\u00a0<\/span>Sohyun Park<\/span><\/a>, associate professor of landscape architecture in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR<\/a>).\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a typical site,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Park. \u201cI thought it would be important for us to help with those environments that had not been healthy for both inmates and staff members. There was a lot of potential to increase the beauty of the space and make the spaces more like a human environment for mental health relief.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Park incorporated what became known as the York Normalization Project into a spring 2025 syllabus for her plant design course. Students began with visits to the facility, observing the spaces firsthand and learning directly from the people who use them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The site visits came with challenges. Because of security restrictions, students could not bring phones or cameras into the facilities. Instead, they relied on officer photos, sketchbooks, handwritten notes, and observation to document the landscapes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey had to rely on their hand muscles just to draw something,\u201d says Park.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jiang said the site analysis encouraged students to pay closer attention to details they might otherwise have overlooked.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a pretty visual learner,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u201cI brought a sketchbook and a pencil, and I sketched a lot of the landscape. For me,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just about paying\u00a0attention when\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0actually there.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than arriving with predetermined solutions, students were encouraged to understand the needs of the community first. They spoke with correctional officers about how spaces were used, where employees gathered during breaks, and what improvements could make the greatest difference.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLandscape architecture is not just about creating attractive spaces,\u201d Park says. \u201cIt\u2019s about understanding how people experience their environments and designing places that support the way they live, work, and interact.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Planting, Presenting, and Adapting<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"Two
Connecticut Department of Correction Officers review student design plans at UConn Hartford. (Photo courtesy of Valerie Gordon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Working in groups, students developed proposals that considered aesthetics, sustainability, maintenance, seasonal interest, and the operational realities of designing within a secure environment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In May 2025, students presented their completed landscape designs at UConn Hartford to faculty, IMRP staff, and more than a dozen representatives from the Connecticut Department of Correction. Officers reviewed the work on large poster boards in the\u00a0building\u2019s\u00a0atrium before attending presentations, where each student explained how their ideas would\u00a0benefit\u00a0the facility.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of Jiang\u2019s designs focused on expanding an existing officer memorial area by creating two connected pathways \u2014 one for gathering and reflection, and another designed as a quieter, more reflective space. She incorporated Connecticut\u2019s state tree and state flower – the white oak and the mountain laurel – into the planting plan, a detail that resonated with correctional staff.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe officers were appreciative of the level of care,\u00a0curiosity,\u00a0and innovation that students put into those projects,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Clark.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cComing from a security perspective, my first instinct was to think about whether some of the ideas\u00a0could present operational or security\u00a0concerns,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Smith. \u201cThe students were receptive to that feedback. They listened, adapted their designs, and found solutions that balanced\u00a0creativity with the realities of working inside a\u00a0correctional facility.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor many of us, it was the first time we had seen an external organization focus on improving our workplace rather than simply studying it,\u201d\u00a0says Smith.\u00a0\u201cThat meant a lot.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The presentations were the final course assignment, but unlike many academic projects, these designs were not intended to remain on paper. After months of research, site visits, and design revisions, students had the opportunity to see their work move to the facilities they had studied.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the fall of 2025, students planted bulbs that\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0emerge\u00a0until spring outside York. Inside, plants were delivered to spruce up staff areas and shared spaces, including the officers\u2019 roll call room.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Irina\u00a0Ahmed \u201925\u00a0MA, a research and policy associate with IMRP, helped coordinate aspects of the project from its\u00a0early stages. She says the response from correctional officers\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0the value of even\u00a0small changes\u00a0to the environment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe officers were in the doorway when we brought in the first round of plants,\u201d says Ahmed. \u201cThey were beautiful plants, such a variety of colors and flowers, and the officers were so appreciative and excited about it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The plants also created opportunities for staff members to take ownership of their environment by caring for something living within a space that can often feel institutional.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love any opportunity to work with both staff and the incarcerated residents,\u201d\u00a0says Ahmed. \u201cIt emphasizes the work we do, which is to make the facility better for both populations.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A large group photo of project participants in a courtyard.<\/div>
Designing for York<\/div>
Participants from UConn and the Connecticut Department of Corrections at UConn Hartford in spring 2025. (Photo courtesy Valerie Gordon)<\/div><\/div>\"A<\/a>
A student presents while gesturing at a powerpoint in front of a classroom full of people.<\/div>
Class Presentation<\/div>
Students presented their group design proposals and answered questions from the Connecticut Department of Correction officers at UConn Hartford. (Photo courtesy of Valerie Gordon)<\/div><\/div>\"A<\/a>
A group of students pose with their professor outside a correctional facility.<\/div>
Planting at York<\/div>
Sohyun Park, associate\u00a0professor of\u00a0landscape architecture, right, with students on planting day at York Correctional Facility. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Maltz)<\/div><\/div>\"Corrections<\/a>
Corrections officers work with an inmate to unload a truck on planting day.<\/div>
Working Side by Side<\/div>
Staff and inmates worked alongside UConn students, faculty, and volunteers. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Maltz)<\/div><\/div>\"Freshly<\/a>
Freshly planted flowers and trees outside a correctional facility.<\/div>
Growing Change<\/div>
Plantings at York Correctional Institution at end of the first implementation day. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Maltz)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>