While in his lifetime Bentham was a prolific letter writer, he published little and remained obscure to the public until his death.
: xxxviii Prior to fleshing out his ideas of a panopticon prison, Bentham had drafted a complete penal code and explored fundamental legal theory. Back in England, Bentham, with the assistance of his brother, continued to develop his theory on the panopticon.
Bentham applied his brother's ideas on the constant observation of workers to prisons. While residing with his brother in Krichev, Bentham sketched out the concept of the panopticon in letters. : xxxviii Bentham arrived in Krichev in early 1786 and stayed for almost two years. In 1785, Jeremy Bentham, an English social reformer and founder of utilitarianism, travelled to Krichev in Mogilev Governorate of the Russian Empire (modern Belarus) to visit his brother, Samuel, who accompanied Prince Potemkin. The word panopticon derives from the Greek word for "all seeing" – panoptes. It is his prison that is now most widely meant by the term "panopticon".Įlevated view of the panopticon prison, by Reveley 1791. Bentham conceived the basic plan as being equally applicable to hospitals, schools, sanatoriums, and asylums, but he devoted most of his efforts to developing a design for a panopticon prison. From the centre, the manager or staff of the institution are able to watch the inmates. The architecture consists of a rotunda with an inspection house at its centre.
Thus, the inmates are effectively compelled to regulate their own behaviour. The concept of the design is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be observed by a single security guard, without the inmates being able to tell whether they are being watched.Īlthough it is physically impossible for the single guard to observe all the inmates' cells at once, the fact that the inmates cannot know when they are being watched means that they are motivated to act as though they are being watched at all times.
The panopticon is a type of institutional building and a system of control designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. His desire to travel and see the world is mostly insatiable, there is always more to learn.Plan of Jeremy Bentham's panopticon prison, drawn by Willey Reveley in 1791 On weekends you can find Luke outdoors with his family, enjoying the trails and beaches of Marin County. Beyond North America, he has designed projects in Australia, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Panama. He has consulted for notable clients Williams-Sonoma Inc. In addition to projects in Northern California, work has taken Luke across the nation, and to beautiful sites in the wine growing regions of Oregon, Washington and Canada. In 2007 Luke co-founded Wade Design Architects with his wife and partner Ani Wade. Working closely with Howard Backen, he honed his design skills as a project manager with Backen Gillam Architects and oversaw projects ranging from private residences to wineries, retail concepts, restaurants and resorts. A native Texan, Luke began practicing in the San Francisco Bay Area after receiving his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2000.