Wojciech Odrobina Panoptic Architecture

Wojciech Odrobina -Panoptic Architecture The panoptic was a type of prison architecture devised by the utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham towards the end of the 18th century. The objective of the panoptic structure was to allow its guardian, sheltered in a central tower, to observe all the prisoners, held in individual cells around the tower, without these knowing if they are observed. The panoptic is a circular prison design that subverts the design of the colosseum. That is to say, if in the coliseum the spectators can observe from any angle of the stands what happens in the center, in the panoptic everything that happens in the stands is controlled from the center; It is from the epicenter, the central heart of control, where several galleries with cells are born, completely forming the star shape. In addition, the model allows each of the cells to have natural light, that the gallery is visible from the central tower and that the guards, located at one or two ends of the gallery, can monitor without the need to move through The most important effect of the panoptic is to induce in the detainee a conscious and permanent state of visibility that would guarantee the automatic functioning of power, without that power being exercised effectively at all times, since the prisoner cannot know when he is watch and when not The architectural design is carefully done to have a homogenization of the prisoner area and a prominent place where the control tower will be found. Through a watchtower and at a higher level in height is the watchman and the monitored at a lower level or below. This design is not only used in the toughest prisons in the world but also in some companies or corporations that use it for their employees. An example of panoptic architecture is the call centers or call centers where the supervisors are on a high ‘island’ and the telephone operators below in symmetrical and equal cubicles. The panoptic architecture controls the sounds and lights that do not betray the watchman. Today, the concept of the panoptic remains fully valid despite having lost its validity as an architectural model. Technological advances and closed circuit television and surveillance have given way to other forms of control, not only implemented in prisons but also in our environment: military buildings, factories, educational institutions even in our cities.