Prison Architect takes inspiration from the somber histories of the Victoria Prison, located in the earliest penal structure complex built in Hong Kong under British colonial rule. The work was filmed on the site of the original prison, which today houses an important part of the Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts, opened in June 2018 after ten years of restoration work.
The two protagonists – an architect and a prisoner living in parallel realities in the present time and an ambiguous distanced past, respectively – conjure up imaginations and experiences of imprisonment. In their dialogue across space and time they debate the relations between humans, the world, and freedom. They talk of visible and invisible imprisonment, existentialism as a means of self-redemption, and at the same time question the relationship of humans to the space around them. An attempt at reconciliation with the world and human nature.
Prison Architect is inspired by “The Comfort of Captivity”, a short story by Hu Fang.