Arhitectural Society

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Michel Foucault describes the architecture of the Panopticon and relates it to the modern democratic society. The Panopticon models the discipline and power that must coerce and function to sustain control over a society. Foucault uses an analogy to the plague of the 17th century to make the correlation between the Panopticon and society. Though he depicts many aspects of panopticism, it is often difficult to decipher the connection of the Panopticon to his analogies, and the connection of the analogies to society. This paper will argue the connection between the plague analogy, the Panopticon, and the modern democratic society.


First, a description of the Panopticon is necessary to understand the concept of Panopticism. A type of correctional facility, the Panopticon is a circular shaped building, with a tall watchtower in the middle. Along the outside walls are cells, which are closed on both sides and are adjacent to other cells, but completely open to the front. The cells are backlit by windows. This is a central concept to the design because it allows the attendant in the watchtower to have constant surveillance over the captives. Furthermore, the watchtower is designed with Venetian blinds and partitions positioned at right angles. With this design, the attendant in the watchtower can observe without being observed.


Before the Panopticon can be analyzed and linked to society, mention should be given to Foucault’s first analogy, the plague. The plague stood not as a symbol for the destruction of order, but as a symbol of the need for the restoration of order and the contrast between normal and abnormal. Citizens of the town were quarantined and reviewed on a daily basis. Foucault states that this system provided for


each individual his place, his body, his disease, and his death, his well-being, by means of an omnipresent and omniscient power that subdivides itself in a regular, uninterrupted way even to the ultimate determination of the individual, of what characterizes him, of what belongs to him, of what happens to him. (7)


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Foucault alludes to several important concepts in this quote, but does not explain the


relationship to the modern democratic society.


First, he mentions power. This power is exercised not by force, but is created by the architecture of the structure itself. Now, the significance of the Panopticon can begin to be understood. The captives in the cells, because of the cell design, are a “spatial unity”(0). This is a paradox meaning they have no contact with each other, yet are unified under the power and constant surveillance of the attendant in the watchtower (0). Never knowing when they are being watched, the captives are forced into compliance by the fear of punishment. The concept holds constant for the plague victims. They are subdivided into sections of town, the sections divided into streets, the streets divided into homes. With this “spatial unity”, the authorities are able to constantly observe and label individuals normal or abnormal (0). They never know when they will be called upon for inspection and their conditions reassessed, so they comply with the panoptic-like system for fear of punishment. What Foucault does not explain is how the procedure used to handle the plague and panopticism correlate to form the modern democratic society. He does state that there was a “political dream of the plague” which enveloped the “penetration of regulation into even the smallest details of everyday life,” ensuring the “functioning of power” (7). This statement needs to be evaluated to understand how this compares to panopticism.


The panopticon allowed for the captives in the cells to be individualized, watched, and labeled normal or abnormal, just like the system used to handle the plague. More specifically, the Panopticon made it possible to “arrange things that the surveillance is permanent in its effects even if it is discontinuous in its action” (0). The very design of the Panopticon allows for the captives themselves to be bound by power so that they create their own captivity (1). Foucault fails to make the connection to society as created by the modern commercialist system.


Society in democratic commercialism is a synthesis of individual wills in relation to each other. It is an invisible force that influences these wills to the point that it creates the commercialism itself. This “visible and unverifiable” power “is born mechanically from a fictitious relation” (4). In other words, the wills collaborate, influenced by other wills, which are society, and form the popular opinion. The popular opinion, in turn, creates laws and unspoken rules by which the individuals live. So individuals decide what society will dictate, but at the same time are dictated by society itself. Individuals create their own power.


Foucault vaguely states how such a society is similar to an ongoing experiment. It raises children with a heightened sense of individuality, which creates “discussions that would be worth a great deal more” (5). That is to say if the individuals in such a society are encouraged to develop their own sense of self, then in turn they will give back to society by engineering and developing their culture. Individuals are pushed to think critically and analytically to discover “new objects of knowledge” (5). This allows for the panoptic system to decrease the number of individuals exercising power while increasing the number of individuals who are affected by this power.


Foucault’s main underlying point in Panopticon is easily overlooked; however, he alludes to it throughout the article. Several rhetorical questions end the essay, and these conceivably give the closest definition of Foucault’s point. He concludes “Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?” (5). The Panopticon is an effective mechanism for punishing the criminals, making the idle work, instructing schoolchildren, and nursing the sick. All of these functions are made possible by constant surveillance, whether real or imagined. This system promotes individuality while simultaneously suppressing it with the all-knowing power of society. What Foucault is ultimately implying is that the Panopticon creates a society in which the individuals who comprise it are able to not only sustain it, but also ensure its success for the next generations.





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