Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture 13 (2019) 653-661 doi: 10.17265/1934-7359/2019.10.005 Architectural Guidelines Aimed at the Resocialization of Brazilian Prisoners Gabriele Santin Figueiró, Luisa Batista de Oliveira Silva, Alcindo Neckel and Henrique Aniceto Kujawa Stricto Sensu Postgraduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism (PPGARQ-IMED), Passo Fundo/RS, 99070-220, Brazil Abstract: The worsening of the Brazilian prison crisis is the result of multiple factors, aggravated by the lack of maintenance of penal establishments. The overall objective of the manuscript is to analyze the architectural guidelines aimed at resocialization of the Brazilian prisoners in the prisons of Passo Fundo/RS and Santa Luzia/MG. Methodologically, we sought to understand the functionality of the Regional Prison of Passo Fundo/RS (common system) and the prison of Santa Luzia/MG (The Association of Protection and Assistance to the Convicts (APAC) methodology), with architectural guidelines in evaluating the efficiency of prisons. The results showed that architectural conservation and resocialization programs positively influence the decrease in criminal recidivism. Key words: Criminal architecture, penitentiary system, resocialization. 1. Introduction The prison is designed to accommodate multiple personalities, diversity of stories, habits and different ways of thinking [1-3]. Prior to the Middle Ages [4, 5], prisons lacked adequate architectural facilities, as, frequently, abandoned buildings and even old wells dug in different types of soil were used. In Brazil, the first traces of prison architecture occurred between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries using existing buildings [6]. In 2016 Brazil had 726,712 detainees, representing 0.35% of the total population of 206,081,432, falling below countries such as the United States and China [7, 8]. According to the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988 and the Law on Criminal Execution of 1984, they stipulate that the detainee is the individual serving a sentence, isolated from conviviality in society [9-11]. In this respect, it is estimated that Brazilian prisoners will reach the 7,165,380 detainees marked by the year 2050 [8]. In order to mitigate the growth taxes of the number of prisoners, it is necessary to define a new Corresponding author: Alcindo Neckel, Dr, research fields: technology, project and management of the built environment, and sustainability. penal model, with alternative measures and, with monetary investments aiming at the resocialization and no more overcrowding of these establishments [12]. The Regional Prison of Passo Fundo/RS, is classified as an establishment used by the Justice, with the purpose of housing detainees in regime closed, semi-open and external work [13]. The Association of Protection and Assistance to the Convicts (APAC) operation methodology was created in 1972, in São José dos Campos/SP, and implemented at APAC Santa Luzia/MG in 2006 with a capacity of 200 prisoners. This system is gear to the humanized care of prisoners, seeking to reduce criminal recidivism, with alternatives for recovery and reintegration of detainees [14, 15]. The study is justified by the comparative and evaluative purposes of the systems efficiency aiming to result in the most permissible application model. The objective of the manuscript is to analyze the architectural guidelines aimed at resocialization of the Brazilian prisoners in the prisons of Passo Fundo/RS and Santa Luzia/MG. Specifically, the architecture of Passo Fundo Regional Prison and Santa Luzia APAC were analyzed; their capacities and the rates of criminal D DAVID PUBLISHING