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Origin and history

The former Guingamp prison, located 4 Auguste Pavie Street, was built between 1836 and 1841 according to the Pennsylvanian (or Philadelphian) model, advocating the total isolation of prisoners day and night. Designed by architect Louis Lorin under the impetus of humanist Charles Lucas, Inspector General of Prisons, she was inspired by the studies of Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont on American prisons (1831–32). This system opposed the Auburnian model (day contact between inmates), still dominant today.

The prison operated as a joint prison from 1841 to 1931, hosting up to 1,400 ordinary prisoners between 1941 and 1952. It also served as a refuge for Spanish Republicans (1937–38) and as a storage of archives until the 1980s. Disused in 1951, it became property of the city in 1992 and was classified as a historical monument in 1997. A major restoration (€850,000) took place in 2008 to preserve its wooden and stone structure.

A surface of 3,038 m2, the rectangular building organizes 35 individual cells (4 m × 1.75 m) around a central courtyard, with a fountain and a 3.40 m wide round path. The wings distinguished between accused/convicted men (north/south) and women (east), while a building housed guards. A symbol of humanist architecture, it broke with the unhealthy prisons of the time, offering full visibility on the inmates.

Since 2019, the prison has been home to the GwinZegal art centre (contemporary photography) and, since September 2021, INSEAC (National Higher Institute of Artistic and Cultural Education), led by the Cnam and supported by the state, the Brittany Region, and local authorities. A five-phase rehabilitation project (total budget: €6,785 million), aims to transform the site, with €5.3 million already committed by the city for phases 3 and 4.

Immersive paths (words and walls) and a book (The Guingamp Prison from 1841 to the present), coedited with the Departmental Archives, perpetuate his memory. Open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday, it combines prison heritage and cultural dynamism, radiating nationally and internationally.

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