Referential Design of Brazil's prisons

My involvement with prison design research began at the University of Brasília, through a long-term project developed in collaboration with DEPEN (Brazil's National Penitentiary Department). The objective was not to design a single facility, but to establish referential architectural and engineering models that would serve as a technical basis for prison projects across the country.

The work was conducted entirely in BIM, with a strong emphasis on coordination, standardization, and reproducibility. These reference projects were conceived to be reused, adapted, and scaled by different states, making design consistency and technical clarity central concerns.

Within this context, I acted as the technical lead for the hydraulic systems, being responsible for the development of the plumbing design from early studies through executive-level documentation. This included defining system strategies, coordinating interfaces with architecture and other disciplines, and contributing to the formulation of technical guidelines and manuals associated with the project.

The research was carried out as part of a multidisciplinary team of bachelor's, master's and doctoral students and professors. This resulted in a set of standardized engineering and architectural models delivered to state authorities. Due to the sensitive nature of the program, the design material itself cannot be publicly displayed, however, the experience was formative in shaping my understanding of BIM as a tool for national-scale design, technical governance, and knowledge transfer.