California City Prison, California

This medium security desert prison began receiving its first batch of prisoners in 2013, and is a stunning sight, either by day when its monolithic forms stand out on the desert pavement like ancient Egyptian architecture, or by night when floodlights bathe the gleaming facility in an orange glow which can be seen from as much as 30 miles away. It is one of the first private federal prisons to be built in California, the state with the most incarcerated population. It was built by then Corrections Corporation of America, which rebranded itself in 2016 as CivicCore.