This is a beautiful “sportdome” designed by Willem van der Sluis for imprisoned illegal immigrants in the Netherlands. This is definitely a successful project that shows that form and function play equal importance in design. “The mission was to create an outdoor space for the prisoners at the prison boats in Zaandam. The creating of the dome was a process of finding a solution between the demands of justice and living up to the needs of the prisoners. The space had to be easily built and easily dismantle, prisoners had to be able to see the outside world but it had to be sure that outsiders wouldnít recognize the prisonerís.” b

At night, the dome lights up and acts as a landmark that reminds us of social issues that need to be acknowledged.

You can watch an interview of him here and other fascinating dutch designers here.