Un-Building a Justice Facility: Architecture + Ethics

Artist Statement

What remains when the walls come down?

We, faculty and graduate students of architecture and ethics at Kean University’s School of Public Architecture, started by studying a jail.

The Passaic County Jail once stood as a place built in the name of justice. Its completed demolition in early 2026 brought an end to the physical structure, but not to the questions it left behind. What does it mean to dismantle a place created to administer justice? What remains when its walls are gone? And what can the act of unbuilding reveal?

Un-Building grew from these questions. Through archival research, investigation of the site, a forensic examination of the building and its history, and collaboration with community and governmental partners, the project traces the life and afterlife of a complex and contested institution from multiple perspectives. Rather than treating demolition as an ending, Un-Building uses it as a way to examine what architecture can reveal through its disappearance, and what histories, materials, and narratives endure.

The story extends beyond a single building. It asks us to consider architecture not as a neutral backdrop, but as an active participant in public life: shaping institutions, reflecting values, and as a force that can create spaces that hurt and spaces that heal.

Perhaps unbuilding, then, is not simply the end of a building. It is the beginning of a different conversation about what architecture has been, what it has done, and what it might become.

Overview of Architecture that Hurts and Architecture that Heals Assemblages By Erin Newton

Architecture is never neutral. Architecture shapes human experience. Spaces can comfort or isolate, restore or exhaust, protect or exclude. The built environment influences not only how we move through the world, but how we feel, heal, remember, connect, and belong. This study began by investigating the questions: Can architecture hurt, and can architecture heal? As students investigated this question, they discovered that the answer is complicated. Their work revealed a series of ethical paradoxes. Buildings may not cause suffering on their own, yet they often become places where suffering is experienced. Also, architecture may not independently heal, yet it can create conditions that support dignity, resilience, recovery, and hope. Students examined different architecture styles and functions that accommodate experiences of hurting and healing. You know these spaces as detention centers, shelters, medical offices, and community centers. They investigated how architecture/design/space can influence how we create these environments to function as sites that continue harm or encourage healing. They also studied how these environments can actively support restoration of one’s humanity across physical, psychological and social dimensions.

Ultimately, the “Un-Building Justice” and “Holding Hurting/Holding Healing” components of this installation address ethics and Architecture. The demolition of the Passaic County Jail was our case-study for reframing architecture as an ethical practice that invited students to reimagine our carceral system. Every design decision carries consequences for those who inhabit our buildings and cities. This exhibition invites visitors to consider architecture not only as an act of making places, but as a responsibility to one another, to our communities, and to our shared humanity.

Architect’s Statement, Camille Sherrod

Celebrating diversity in our profession not only in composition, but in the way architecture is practiced and through its priorities is critical. Each architect brings something uniquely valuable to the profession and my role, one I gladly accept as part of the .03%**, is to make the content of my instruction relevant to each student’s life and individual perspective. I see the value in an approach which takes into account the rigorous development of one’s individual agenda and design intuition, risk-taking, diverse forms of expression and a strong foundation.
**.03%, percentage of black female architects in the US in 2018.

Architect’s Statement, Erin Sharp-Newton
Erin focuses on curating innovative solutions to transform projects that prioritize wellbeing, and respect research and practice. She has been featured in venues such as the Royal College of Physicians in London, Biennales, and Triennales, at conferences and publications. She is active in mentorship as a juror and critic for academic institutions Through her outreach initiatives, including collaboration with the Children’s Ciris Treatment center in Philadelphia, Erin underscores her dedication to uplifting humanity and communities. In addition to advocacy, Erin’s experience in market leadership and business development enables her to drive impactful projects through vision and commitment She inspires compassion and courage through highlighting the profound impact of the built environment on overall lived experience.