engineering

Presidio Modelo

Presidio Modelo is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Presidio Modelo rather than just read about it. In short: The Presidio Modelo was a "model prison" with panopticon design, built on the Isla de Pinos ("Isle of Pines"), now the Isla de la Juventud ("Isle of Youth"), in Cuba. It is located in the suburban quarter of Chacón, Nueva Gerona.

Key takeaways

Presidio Modelo belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Presidio Modelo to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Presidio Modelo from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Presidio Modelo was a "model prison" with panopticon design, built on the Isla de Pinos ("Isle of Pines"), now the Isla de la Juventud ("Isle of Youth"), in Cuba. It is located in the suburban quarter of Chacón, Nueva Gerona.

History

The prison was built under the President-turned-dictator Gerardo Machado between 1926 and 1931. The five circular blocks, with cells constructed in tiers around central observation posts, were built with the capacity to house up to 5,000 prisoners. The panopticon design allowed the guards to watch the prisoners constantly. Thirty of the survivors of the rebel attacks on Moncada Barracks in July 1953‍— including Fidel Castro and his brother, Raúl Castro‍— were imprisoned there until 1955. At that time, the four circular buildings were packed with 6,000 men, every floor was filled with trash, there was no running water, food rations were meager, and the government supplied only the bare necessities of life. However, Castro and the other rebels were not kept in the circular buildings with their small cells and harsh conditions, but were instead kept in the hospital wing, which had a larger living area with better beds and living conditions. Dictator Fulgencio Batista had made the mistake of placing all the conspirators together in the hospital wing, and they proceeded to treat it as a revolutionary boot camp, congregating for daily lessons on politics and conducting secret communications with supporters around Cuba. "What a fantastic school this prison is!" Castro wrote in a letter. "From here I’m able to finish forging my vision of the world...". After Castro's revolutionary triumph in 1959, Presidio Modelo remained in operation. By 1961, due to the overcrowded conditions (up to 4000 prisoners at one time), it was the site of various riots and hunger strikes, especially just before the Bay of Pigs Invasion, when orders were given to line the tunnels underneath the entire prison with several tons of TNT. Prominent Cuban political prisoners such as Armando Valladares, Roberto Martín Pérez, and Pedro Luis Boitel were held there at one point or another during their respective incarcerations. It was permanently closed by the government in 1967. The prison now serves as a museum and has been declared a national monument. The old administration building now serves as a school and research center.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Presidio Modelo

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Presidio Modelo claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Presidio Modelo before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Presidio Modelo ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Presidio Modelo

In research: Presidio Modelo appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Presidio Modelo in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Presidio Modelo is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1920s establishments in Cuba, 20th-century architecture in Cuba, Buildings and structures completed in 1928, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Presidio Modelo outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Presidio Modelo in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Presidio Modelo means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Presidio Modelo out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Presidio Modelo in simple terms?

Why does Presidio Modelo matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Presidio Modelo?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Presidio Modelo.