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Undocumented: The Architecture Of Migrant Detention
Undocumented: The Architecture of Migrant Detention details the banality and violence of the architecture of these centres and contrasts them with stories of daily resistance among immigration detainees. This book explores migrant detention centres, a global industry and the fastest growing incarceration sector in North America's prison industrial complex, and questions the role of architectural design in the control and management of migrants in such spaces. Using the conventional architectural tools of representation, the book draws from the shadows the silenced voices of those who are detained and it confronts the anonymous individuals who design spaces of confinement.
112 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 27, 2019
“Spaces of incarceration are both nowhere and everywhere, blended into our landscapes. But their invisibility is no coincidence. We hide the things we don’t want to see or that we don’t want seen.” p18
“In a securitized world, the gated community mirrors the detention centre, the micro-condominium isn’t so different from the cell, they are sites of exclusion and seclusion.” p30
“In a securitized world, the gated community mirrors the detention centre, the micro-condominium isn’t so different from the cell, they are sites of exclusion and seclusion.” p30
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July 27, 2015http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2014/0...
Review by Daniel Tseghay
Immigration detention is Canada's fastest growing form of incarceration. Pending deportation, the Canadian governments puts migrants in immigration hold, separating them from their families, making adequate legal counsel inaccessible and subjecting them to constant lockdowns.
They're deemed flight risks and detained for overstaying their visas or permits, or for having their permanent or refugee status revoked.
Like failing to pay a parking permit or filing taxes on time, these migrants are only accused of an "administrative offense." But unlike those other offenses, these are some of the only ones which lead to detention.
"Canada has three designated immigration 'holding' centres located in Toronto, Laval and Vancouver," writes Tings Chak in Undocumented: The Architecture of Migrant Detention, a graphic novel, "but more than one third of detainees are held in rented beds in provincial prisons."
One of these holding centres is the CBSA Vancouver Immigration Holding Centre, in the basement of the Vancouver International airport, where Lucia Jimenez committed suicide in December.
Chak's illustrations reveal the underbelly of facilities intentionally hidden away. "Spaces of incarceration are both nowhere and everywhere, blended into our landscapes," she writes. "But their invisibility is no coincidence. We hide the things that we don't want to see or that we don't want seen."
The internal structure of these buildings is constructed in ways that control the experiences and responses of their inhabitants. The architecture of demoralization means "you lose your spatial bearings and markings, you lose your identity…and subjecthood."
Based on discussions with detainees, Chak reveals that some in prolonged segregation experience a feeling of merging with the walls, feeling the presence of someone else in the cell who they can never quite see and, after enduring containment within white walls and over-exposure to fluorescent lighting, "white blindness," or the inability to see colour or to see at all.
And yet, despite the experience of indefinite detention and all its manifestations, migrants still defiantly resist. There are "taped up photos, hoarded food and toilet paper curtains even if they are torn down or are flushed down the toilet during random monthly searches." There are the "jail cakes" detainees secretly make to celebrate each others' birthdays and their release from detention.
In these small acts, we can see the enduring spirit of resistance regardless of attempts to crush it.
Undocumented: The Architecture of Migrant Detention documents some of these moments through imagery and text, and sheds light on an institution so successfully hidden away.
Daniel Tseghay is an editor for The Mainlander.
This book review originally appeared on The Mainlander and is reprinted with permission.
Review by Daniel Tseghay
Immigration detention is Canada's fastest growing form of incarceration. Pending deportation, the Canadian governments puts migrants in immigration hold, separating them from their families, making adequate legal counsel inaccessible and subjecting them to constant lockdowns.
They're deemed flight risks and detained for overstaying their visas or permits, or for having their permanent or refugee status revoked.
Like failing to pay a parking permit or filing taxes on time, these migrants are only accused of an "administrative offense." But unlike those other offenses, these are some of the only ones which lead to detention.
"Canada has three designated immigration 'holding' centres located in Toronto, Laval and Vancouver," writes Tings Chak in Undocumented: The Architecture of Migrant Detention, a graphic novel, "but more than one third of detainees are held in rented beds in provincial prisons."
One of these holding centres is the CBSA Vancouver Immigration Holding Centre, in the basement of the Vancouver International airport, where Lucia Jimenez committed suicide in December.
Chak's illustrations reveal the underbelly of facilities intentionally hidden away. "Spaces of incarceration are both nowhere and everywhere, blended into our landscapes," she writes. "But their invisibility is no coincidence. We hide the things that we don't want to see or that we don't want seen."
The internal structure of these buildings is constructed in ways that control the experiences and responses of their inhabitants. The architecture of demoralization means "you lose your spatial bearings and markings, you lose your identity…and subjecthood."
Based on discussions with detainees, Chak reveals that some in prolonged segregation experience a feeling of merging with the walls, feeling the presence of someone else in the cell who they can never quite see and, after enduring containment within white walls and over-exposure to fluorescent lighting, "white blindness," or the inability to see colour or to see at all.
And yet, despite the experience of indefinite detention and all its manifestations, migrants still defiantly resist. There are "taped up photos, hoarded food and toilet paper curtains even if they are torn down or are flushed down the toilet during random monthly searches." There are the "jail cakes" detainees secretly make to celebrate each others' birthdays and their release from detention.
In these small acts, we can see the enduring spirit of resistance regardless of attempts to crush it.
Undocumented: The Architecture of Migrant Detention documents some of these moments through imagery and text, and sheds light on an institution so successfully hidden away.
Daniel Tseghay is an editor for The Mainlander.
This book review originally appeared on The Mainlander and is reprinted with permission.
March 16, 2024
Obviously a harrowing and potentially triggering topic, I don't have any further content notes. Although I would specifically note that this is a look at so called canadian migrant detention specifically.
Keywords that came to mind: architecture, floor plans, charts, bodies, space, and the human spirit.
Looking over her website, Tings Chak is "an internationalist activist and artist, trained in architecture. After emerging from migrant justice movements in Toronto, Canada, she has been working with diverse working class movements across the Global South."
Looking at the writing and art, this is obviously an unconventional work and fairly niche but incredibly distinct as well. Particularly in a country like so called canada where many of our politicians have tried to portray themselves as welcoming to immigrants and refugees, even while apparently hoping (and working on the legal fronts) to depend on our limited shared borders to insulate us from actually having to fulfill those welcomes.
I really enjoyed the way that Chak uses juxtaposition to contrast the the dehumanizing nature of incarcerating architecture with the active resistance from the people who get detained in them. As an interested outsider I can see this as an important intervention and invitation to consider for people going through architecture training. Although, even as just an interested outsider with no background in architecture, I found this book extremely accessible and thought provoking. Architecture is such an integral part of all of our lives and learning more about hostile architecture in general can be incredibly eye opening and even empowering to every day people.
To highlight a few of the things I thought were not as strong... While I'm not an expert, I think some of specifics around some of these details have changed a bit since 2014, not to mention how things have looked different previously. I just feel like there could have been a bit more emphasis on the context of when this piece was written.
I also found the first section of the book the most confusing visually. It's just a blip because this book is overall a pretty fast read, but figured it might be helpful to note.
Not a story really in any sense of the term, I don't really have anything to say on the intersecting identities side of things.
So, to wrap things up.... Four stars. Niche certainly but very accessible and interesting.
And concluding/stepping back from the review side of things I will take one moment to get on a small soapbox and ask. Why is it ever becoming easier for money and capital to cross borders even as humans are increasingly demonized and shut out? We are descending into a future of eco fascism's making and we need to continue to fight back, even when so called liberal and/or democratic politicians are in power or not.
Keywords that came to mind: architecture, floor plans, charts, bodies, space, and the human spirit.
Looking over her website, Tings Chak is "an internationalist activist and artist, trained in architecture. After emerging from migrant justice movements in Toronto, Canada, she has been working with diverse working class movements across the Global South."
Looking at the writing and art, this is obviously an unconventional work and fairly niche but incredibly distinct as well. Particularly in a country like so called canada where many of our politicians have tried to portray themselves as welcoming to immigrants and refugees, even while apparently hoping (and working on the legal fronts) to depend on our limited shared borders to insulate us from actually having to fulfill those welcomes.
I really enjoyed the way that Chak uses juxtaposition to contrast the the dehumanizing nature of incarcerating architecture with the active resistance from the people who get detained in them. As an interested outsider I can see this as an important intervention and invitation to consider for people going through architecture training. Although, even as just an interested outsider with no background in architecture, I found this book extremely accessible and thought provoking. Architecture is such an integral part of all of our lives and learning more about hostile architecture in general can be incredibly eye opening and even empowering to every day people.
To highlight a few of the things I thought were not as strong... While I'm not an expert, I think some of specifics around some of these details have changed a bit since 2014, not to mention how things have looked different previously. I just feel like there could have been a bit more emphasis on the context of when this piece was written.
I also found the first section of the book the most confusing visually. It's just a blip because this book is overall a pretty fast read, but figured it might be helpful to note.
Not a story really in any sense of the term, I don't really have anything to say on the intersecting identities side of things.
So, to wrap things up.... Four stars. Niche certainly but very accessible and interesting.
And concluding/stepping back from the review side of things I will take one moment to get on a small soapbox and ask. Why is it ever becoming easier for money and capital to cross borders even as humans are increasingly demonized and shut out? We are descending into a future of eco fascism's making and we need to continue to fight back, even when so called liberal and/or democratic politicians are in power or not.
June 16, 2017
This book starts with illustrations of the outside of Migrant Detention Centres (prisons), then takes us through "processing" and the spaces that detainees are forced to inhabit, as well as their dehumanizing nature.
The stark, plain drawings more than serve their purpose in imparting both the information about the issue of migrant detention (and, for that matter, prisons), as well as giving the reader a sense of the disorienting and demoralizing aspects of the spaces.
The book finishes with an interview with a former migrant detainee, and additional information, particularly about the Prison Industrial Complex (which, in Canada, we often associate with the United States. We like to pretend that it's not an issue here, although it is - it just doesn't get as much discussion as it should in Canadian contexts).
A brief, but concise and informative graphic read.
The stark, plain drawings more than serve their purpose in imparting both the information about the issue of migrant detention (and, for that matter, prisons), as well as giving the reader a sense of the disorienting and demoralizing aspects of the spaces.
The book finishes with an interview with a former migrant detainee, and additional information, particularly about the Prison Industrial Complex (which, in Canada, we often associate with the United States. We like to pretend that it's not an issue here, although it is - it just doesn't get as much discussion as it should in Canadian contexts).
A brief, but concise and informative graphic read.
April 1, 2020
This was such an amazing book. I read this for class, and it's a graphic novel that really encapsulates what a detention centre is like. It made me dig deeper into the concept of infrastructualism and this novel felt like a VR experience. There is no one until the end of the book - you simply see the blueprints and the graphs Chak provides. Even though it's so simple, there is a feeling of loneliness throughout. And even when you do eventually come across people, they are faceless and it feels like there's a lack of identity. Chak also shows the resilience of the migrants, which made me think of Eve Tuck's piece on damage-centred vs. desire-based research (really interesting read). The section with the identity card also resonated with me quite a bit; it's such a crucial piece of document, more so than the person. Alice Munro Country on the Globe and Mail is a great read to go along with this.
January 22, 2019
This graphic novel was something that made me consider how migration detention worked from an architectural standpoint, and how it can affect various facets of our lives, rather we are aware of it or not. There is so much I want to say about how it is inforative in such a simple way, that it, at least for me, made me question the importance of spaces, how we chose to construct them, and the consequences assfiated with these choices.
After having read The Cage by Vaughn-James, it was nice reading something that was more straight-forward in making its point understood/heard.
After having read The Cage by Vaughn-James, it was nice reading something that was more straight-forward in making its point understood/heard.
November 15, 2017
Tings Chak uses interviews with architects and detained migrants, along with drawings and diagrams, to give the reader a sense of what migrant detention centers are like in North America. The result is an incredibly powerful testament to the invisible lives of those who are detained among us.
November 4, 2018
how do we make the borders disappear?
March 5, 2021
I think this would have worked better as a short documentary, versus this book.
December 4, 2021
read this for a book review assignment in my refugees class and wow! a really great insight into immigration detention centres and what it's like to live in them
January 28, 2022
This is must-read for people in Canada curious about immigration and detention centers.
Also it's a verrrrry quick read.
This is a phenomenal unconventional graphic novel that is in many ways a visual drawn documentary.
Chak discusses immigration centers in Canada.
She focuses on the way these detentions are in many ways hidden in plane sight. I was shocked to notice at least one, most likely two detention centers, in areas I frequent.
There are few if any images that depict these centers. She draws them blending in, small across from Canadian roads.
She includes a lot of facts and figures.
Also it's a verrrrry quick read.
This is a phenomenal unconventional graphic novel that is in many ways a visual drawn documentary.
Chak discusses immigration centers in Canada.
She focuses on the way these detentions are in many ways hidden in plane sight. I was shocked to notice at least one, most likely two detention centers, in areas I frequent.
There are few if any images that depict these centers. She draws them blending in, small across from Canadian roads.
She includes a lot of facts and figures.
April 13, 2016
Nonfiction/Architecture comics masterpiece. Ayesha Basit's review of the work at Antopode is well written. https://radicalantipode.files.wordpre...
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July 14, 2017So glad to have finally had the chance to read this powerful graphical exploration of migrant detention in Canada. In lieu of a full review, check out the interview I did in April with the author.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews