What kind of house does a man who has lived in a 2 by 3 metre cell for over 30 years dream of? This is the question posed by artist Jackie Sumell in collaboration with Herman Wallace, a man who has spent the last 35 years in solitary confinement in Louisiana State Penitentiary. Robert King Wilkerson, a fellow inmate of Herman’s who was exonerated by Louisiana State in 2001, put the pair in contact. Through written correspondence over a period of 5 years, Jackie has put together a rendering of the house that Herman dreams about in a project titled “The House that Herman Built”. On show as part of the current London Festival of Architecture, the project has resulted in plans, models, artist sketches and a three-dimensional animation of Herman’s dream home. These will be on display in Kensington, alongside letters between the artist and the prisoner as well as a life-size replica of Herman’s cell. Jackie is dedicated to constructing Herman’s dream home and acknowledges that, if Herman’s court appeals are unsuccessful, he may never see the completed project. When asked why she thought it was important that this house be built, her reply was, “Because everyone should be encouraged to dream”.
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Carl Lindgren
