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They could have put some fake windows to make it look normal. They do this with data center buildings in my city.

This was built during modernism, when architects developed an allergic reaction to what they considered excessive frivolity in ornamentation.

They did this to the Verizon tower in Lower Manhattan, and arguably I think it looks worse than the old design. https://www.6sqft.com/skyline-blights-ugly-verizon-building-...

A jail I was held in has tinted glass windows all the way around it to make it look like a modern office building, but behind the glass... 99% wall.

Username checks out.

That's probably more to help limit the NIMBYism. Otherwise, why bother with the expense?

Yep - it was absolutely for the NIMBYs. It was built, like many pretrial facilities, in the centre of a town, surrounded by housing.