The theory of alienation
While Foucault in his theorization of the docile body referred to “the technology of power intended to produce a calculated manipulation of the body” (Foucault, 1979, p.202), another important 19th century philosopher gave a different interpretation of the term docile. The theory of alienation was developed and expressed by philosopher Karl Marx in response to the workers of a newly (at the time) formed capitalist society. He believed that the workers were becoming mere cogwheels in the bourgeois machine of production, and that they had become increasingly “deprived of the right to think of themselves as the directors of their own actions”. While the theory of alienation in its whole can be interpreted as a politically …show more content…
One of the most infamous architectural models of control still remains the panopticon. Developed as a new system of penal reform by 18th century philosopher Jeremy Bentham, the panopticon was spatially based on the idea of a centralized point (tower) from which the prison guard could observe every prison cell and every inmate at all times, without being seen. This intrusion of privacy and basic domesticity, resulted in the psychological manipulation of the inmates, as they entered a state of vigilance thinking that they were observed at any time during the day or …show more content…
While the building has been attributed with a variety of innovations both technologically and aesthetically, it will be exaggerated and critiqued in this following section, as a spatial demonstration of surveillance and control. The most notable feature of the building was a large atrium in the centre, from which the management located in the upper floors of the structure, could observe the workers in the ground level without being noticed, thus creating the panoptic perception of constant surveillance. The Larkin building can be characterized by another of Foucault’s terms developed in discipline and punish, panopticism. The term refers to any expression of power which attempts to alter behaviour. In the case of the Larkin building, panopticism is employed in order to manipulate the worker’s perception of space, in an attempt to sterilize their behaviour and eliminate any distractions that they could engage in. Control becomes a spatially intrusive and dominant force in the building, compelling the workers/ mannequins to deny their own subconscious (immaterial) thus operating silently on the physicality of space (material). Subsequently the Larkin building can be categorized as a strong example of the Marxist theory of alienation. The workers have become part of a profit driven
While Foucault in his theorization of the docile body referred to “the technology of power intended to produce a calculated manipulation of the body” (Foucault, 1979, p.202), another important 19th century philosopher gave a different interpretation of the term docile. The theory of alienation was developed and expressed by philosopher Karl Marx in response to the workers of a newly (at the time) formed capitalist society. He believed that the workers were becoming mere cogwheels in the bourgeois machine of production, and that they had become increasingly “deprived of the right to think of themselves as the directors of their own actions”. While the theory of alienation in its whole can be interpreted as a politically …show more content…
One of the most infamous architectural models of control still remains the panopticon. Developed as a new system of penal reform by 18th century philosopher Jeremy Bentham, the panopticon was spatially based on the idea of a centralized point (tower) from which the prison guard could observe every prison cell and every inmate at all times, without being seen. This intrusion of privacy and basic domesticity, resulted in the psychological manipulation of the inmates, as they entered a state of vigilance thinking that they were observed at any time during the day or …show more content…
While the building has been attributed with a variety of innovations both technologically and aesthetically, it will be exaggerated and critiqued in this following section, as a spatial demonstration of surveillance and control. The most notable feature of the building was a large atrium in the centre, from which the management located in the upper floors of the structure, could observe the workers in the ground level without being noticed, thus creating the panoptic perception of constant surveillance. The Larkin building can be characterized by another of Foucault’s terms developed in discipline and punish, panopticism. The term refers to any expression of power which attempts to alter behaviour. In the case of the Larkin building, panopticism is employed in order to manipulate the worker’s perception of space, in an attempt to sterilize their behaviour and eliminate any distractions that they could engage in. Control becomes a spatially intrusive and dominant force in the building, compelling the workers/ mannequins to deny their own subconscious (immaterial) thus operating silently on the physicality of space (material). Subsequently the Larkin building can be categorized as a strong example of the Marxist theory of alienation. The workers have become part of a profit driven