Docsity
Docsity

Prepare for your exams
Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity


Earn points to download
Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan


Guidelines and tips
Guidelines and tips

Bentham's Panopticon, Study notes of Architecture

For these projects seem to suggest that an ethical purpose can be set in motion by the workings of an aptly appointed work of architecture, implying that a well ...

Typology: Study notes

2021/2022

Uploaded on 09/12/2022

rossi46
rossi46 🇬🇧

4.5

(10)

313 documents

1 / 17

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
H:.o
""\
c:?c-th"l<.-dtH<J4L
Ao.s
N.
Q
\i
A-e;n,
R.l-i
3,
~f'~\rJG
1,11
2I
LI
\
-~1
Bentham's
Panopticon
An
Incident
in
the
Social
History
of
Architecture
Ro
bin
Eva
ns
'A
zua
y
of
obtaining power,
pOWe/"
of
mind
over mind,
il1
a
quantity
hitherto withoUl
exampl
e.'
Jeremy
Bentham,
sire
of
Utili-
tarianism
and
famou
s
legislator
manque,
is
rarely
praised
for
his
eccentric
forays
into
the
field
of
architecture.
His
numerous
pro-
jects are
usually
seen
as
idiosyn-
cracies
in
an
otherwise
rational
life's work.
Many
architectural
historians
have
ne
v
er
heard
of
the
Panopticon
principle
of
construc-
tion,
while
philosophers
and
peno-
logists
tend
to
pass
over
it
with
a
scratch
of
the
head
or
a
raised
ey
e
brow.
It
is
therefore
with
a
certain
trepidation
that
I
now
put
it
forward
as
the
most
significant
monument
to
a
forgotten
creed
that
linked
human
betterment
with
architecture
above all else.
For
these
projects
seem
to
suggest
that
an
ethical
purpose
can
be
set
in
motion
by
the
workings
of
an
aptly
appointed
work
of
architecture,
implying
that
a
well-designed
in-
stitution
could
fulfil a
moral
role
by
the
very
functioning
of
its
parts,
and
thus
might
be
an
extension
of
moral
philosphy-not
as
language
or
symbol,
as
Pugin
and
Ruskin
were
later
to
hold-but
as a
cata-
lytic
agent
inducing
human
good-
ness
or
reformation
as
part
of
a
purely
mechanicai
operation.
The
Panopticon,
or
Inspection
House,
was
devised
by
Jeremy
Bentham
in 1787.
It
was originally
intended
as a
model
for all
kinds
of
institution
in
which
the
control
of
humans
or
even
animals
was
considered
important
.
It
tends
now
to
be
associated
only
with
pri
s
on
architecture,
but
Ben-
tham
himself
thought
it
could
serve
equally
well
for
schools,
hospitals;
lazarettos,
poor-plan
build-
ing
s ( i.e.
accommodation
for
the
destitute),
houses
of
correction,
lunatic
asylums,
orphanages,
nur-
series,
institutions
for
the
blind
and
deaf,
homes
for
deserted
young
women,
factories,
and
even
a
gigantic
chicken coop.(1)
The
idea
originated
from
a
struc-
ture
designed
by
Samuel,
Jeremy'
s
younger
brother,
while
he
was
reorganising
the
estates
of
the
z.
/Jf5
Russian
Prince
Potemkin
.
This
proto-panopticon
was to
have
been
a
manufactory
situated
in
the
town
of
Kritchev,
but
the
Turko-Russian
war
intervened,
diverting
Potemkin's
attention
from
local
to
international
affairs,
and
the
project
floundered.
e)
Jeremy
had
joined
Samuel
in
Russia
and
from
there,
in
1787,
he
wrote
a series
of
contrived
'letters'
(a
common
device for
arranging
descriptive
material
for
publication
at
that
time
)
setting
out
in
excruciating
detail
his
ideas for
the
design
of
institutions
on
the
Panopticon
plan.
Briefly,
the
Panopticon
or
In-
spection
House
was
to
be
a well
fenestrated
cylindrical
sheath
lined
with
4
or
6 stories
of
cells
or
rooms.
These
cells all faced
into
a
large
covered
shaft
of
space
within
which
there
was a
smaller
cylindrical
kiosk.
This
latter
afforded a
perfect
view
of
every
nook
and
crevice
of
every
cell
and
was to serve as
the
lodgings
for
the
governor
or
manager
of
the
institution.
Here
we
have
the
essential
carcass
of
an
encompassing
environment
that
would
enable
one
person
to
control
a
large
number
of
subordinates.
There
were
many
refinements
directed
to
this
same
end.
Light
and Order
The
qualities
of
light
for
example
were
used
to
enhance
the
powers
of
the
mandarin-like
overseer
in
his
central
lodge.
In
the
earliest
schemes
all
the
daylight
for
the
governors
lodge
entered
through
the
windows
of
the
outer
cylinder.
This
light
would
illumine
the
cells
and
pass
on
into
the
lodge
.
Those
confined
in
the
cells
would
then
be
unable
to
see
into
the
apartments
of
the
lodge
in
much
the
same
way as
people
outside
in
the
street
cannot
see
into
a
house
window.
To
ensure
this
di-
re
ctional
property
Bentham
pro-
posed
to
erect
a
blind
or
curtain
system
around
the
apertures
of
the
lodge
and
to
provide
screens
within
it
to
prev
e
nt
the
through
passage
of
light.
Nor
was
the
effi-
cacy
of
this pervasive
sur-
veillance
to
be
compromised
by
the
threatening
equality
of
darkn
ess.
~
11_A
Robin Evans, "Bentham's Panopticon: An Incident in the Social History of Architecture," 12-37.
pf3
pf4
pf5
pf8
pf9
pfa
pfd
pfe
pff

Partial preview of the text

Download Bentham's Panopticon and more Study notes Architecture in PDF only on Docsity!

H:.o ""\ c:?c-th"l<.-dtH<J4L^ Ao.s^ N.^ Q^ \i A-e;n,^ R.l-i^ 3,^ ~f'~\rJG^ 1,

2I

LI \ -~

Bentham's Panopticon

An Incident in the Social History of Architecture

Ro bin Eva ns 'A zuay of obtaining power, pOWe/" of mind over mind, il1 a quantity hitherto withoUl exampl e.' Jeremy Bentham, sire of Utili tarianism and famou s legislator manque, is rarely praised for his eccentric forays into the field of architecture. His numerous pro jects are usually seen as idiosyn cracies in an otherwise rational life's work. Many architectural historians have ne v er heard of the Panopticon principle of construc tion, while philosophers and peno logists tend to pass over it with a scratch of the head or a raised ey e brow. It is therefore with a certain trepidation that I now put it forward as the most significant monument to a forgotten creed that linked human betterment with architecture above all else. For these projects seem to suggest that an ethical purpose can be set in motion by the workings of an aptly appointed work of architecture, implying that a well-designed in stitution could fulfil a moral role by the very functioning of its parts, and thus might be an extension of moral philosphy-not as language or symbol, as Pugin and Ruskin were later to hold-but as a cata lytic agent inducing human good ness or reformation as part of a purely mechanicai operation. The Panopticon, or Inspection House, was devised by Jeremy Bentham in 1787. It was originally intended as a model for all kinds of institution in which the control of humans or even animals was considered important. It tends now to be associated only with pri son architecture, but Ben tham himself thought it could serve equally well for schools, hospitals; lazarettos, poor-plan build ing s (i.e. accommodation for the destitute), houses of correction, lunatic asylums, orphanages, nur series, institutions for the blind and deaf, homes for deserted young women, factories, and even a gigantic chicken coop.(1) The idea originated from a struc ture designed by Samuel, Jeremy' s younger brother, while he was reorganising the estates of the

z./Jf

Russian Prince Potemkin. This proto-panopticon was to have been a manufactory situated in the town of Kritchev, but the Turko-Russian war intervened, diverting Potemkin's attention from local to international affairs, and the project floundered. e) Jeremy had joined Samuel in Russia and from there, in 1787, he wrote a series of contrived 'letters' (a common device for arranging descriptive material for publication at that time ) setting out in excruciating detail his ideas for the design of institutions on the Panopticon plan. Briefly, the Panopticon or In spection House was to be a well fenestrated cylindrical sheath lined with 4 or 6 stories of cells or rooms. These cells all faced into a large covered shaft of space within which there was a smaller cylindrical kiosk. This latter afforded a perfect view of every nook and crevice of every cell and was to serve as the lodgings for the governor or manager of the institution. Here we have the essential carcass of an encompassing environment that would enable one person to control a large number of subordinates. There were many refinements directed to this same end.

Light and Order The qualities of light for example were used to enhance the powers of the mandarin-like overseer in his central lodge. In the earliest schemes all the daylight for the governors lodge entered through the windows of the outer cylinder. This light would illumine the cells and pass on into the lodge. Those confined in the cells would then be unable to see into the apartments of the lodge in much the same way as people outside in the street cannot see into a house window. To ensure this di re ctional property Bentham pro posed to erect a blind or curtain system around the apertures of the lodge and to provide screens within it to prev e nt the through passage of light. Nor was the effi cacy of this pervasive sur veillance to be compromised by the threatening equality of darkn ess.

~

ROBIN EVANS

Numerous small lamps with r e fl ec tors to direct their light int o cells were to be attached to t he inner rotunda, such that one migh t

' Extend to night th e security of the

day'.(4 ) In the shrou ded ce ntre p art the mast er of the establish men t was to liv t>. H is f ami l y, by t heir very pres ence were to contribute to the work of surveilance: 'It will supply in th eir instance the place of that great and constant entertainment to the sedentary and vacant in towns, the looking out

I. The Peniten tial'Y Panoptic olJ. Thi s is the improved 179 I project drmoll up by TYvTilley Reveley. It was to contain about 460 prisoners ill a rotunda of 120 feet diameter. Aiuch of the i mernal structu/'e and fixtures we/'e to be of i/'ol1. The instiwriollal regime associated with the plan was 'mitiga ted seclusion' the prisol1ers being several in a cell and the chapel and exercise arrallge mellts being communal though highly regimented.

~..~. .... ",'J /;~ • "'1 '

1'/. ' 1' 1, .~ .. ,"·III Rr · '~ ' YOI"I'I('{) , \ " ' :t. -./ ~ .J ,,- - '~' ,V'., .-" /. , ,, .f, r"" I ....l. J "... , II j , '

I "

.- ..

~ ':'i

"'~.

~<.(J.l 11~~~

of w in do ws. The scene, though confine d, w ould be various, and therefo re perhaps not altogether an unamusing one'.(5) I n a later scheme, descri bed in the Postscript to the Pallopticon of 1791, thi s domiciliar y arrange ment was dropped as being too troublesome and costly an affair, and the arrangement s for lighting are modified accordingly. The roof is opened up above the intermediary space to provide light from above as well as from the sides, the central part be ing transformed into a look out station rather than a family dwelling. In the s pace vacated by the governor's house there were now added a set of circular observation passageways, or galleries, one for every two tiers of cells. These were painted black on the inside for visual secrecy, with a continuous horizontal opening covered by an appropriate screen through which the cells could be viewed. The policing officer was now to be subjected to the same unperceived

.•....

and unrelenting inspection by th e governor as he was able to impose on the prisoners, since the governor in his central station was to have a panoramic series of small peep-holes through which he could spy o ur

his subordinates as well as the in

mates. Thus a hierarchy of three stag es was designed for, a secular simile of God, angels and man. Of the God-like power inve st ed in the individual at the centre of this rigorous micro-cosmos Benth am was well aware. In OUTline of Q Plan of Constructio1l of a Panoptico il Penit entia ry House he introduce~ the subject with a quote from Psalm CXXXIX: 'Thou art about my path, and about my bed: And spiest out all my ways If I say peradyenture the darkness shall cover me, Then shall my night be turned into day. Even there also shall thy hand lead me; And thy right hand shall hold me.' (6) He says in the first few lines of the first Panopticon letter that his scheme is 'A way of obtaining power, power of mind o.er mind, in a quantity hitherto without ex ample'.e) In an attempt to reinforce by physical means this structuring of human relationship s Bentham went to the length of encapsulating his God-man-gaoler in a casket like construction, which stretches to the utmost limit both human nature and contemporary technology. 'The lantern might be of the thinnest paper: in short it might in that part (that of the apertures ) be of paper and then a pin-hole would be sufficient to give him ( the governor) a view.' This contraption was to be raised up near the geometrical centre of the Panopticon and was to be just large enough to accommodate the seated body of the observer on a rotating stoo1.(8) So it would seem that the overseer is as much circumscribed by the surroundings as are those overseen. He too fulfills a role in a predictable system: A system that provide"s the ba sis for a ratiom.l order of things in a situa tion that, without such careful circumscriptions, was often rendered into a diabolical chaos by th e irrationally dispo sed passions of men. I !1deed it is only a desire for

241a

ROBIN EVANS

.... ';I..,,;, 'r·~ ..: d."" ' ,I:':~

4. Another, slightly earlier tinted, plan by Reveley for the Peniten tiary Panopticon. Curiously, ill none of these schemes was the 'Dead part' or administration section shown.

greater lengths than most of his contemporaries. It is therefore curious that this same scheme should have even more frequently been described as philanthropic in intenth1, by critics and apologists both contem porary and moder n. This view gains a certain cred(~nc e, however, when it is recognised that the very idea of the publicly financed in stitution for reformative or reclama tory purpose, was, at this time, almost by definition, philanthropic. But, even apart from such relativism, the evidence would seem to point to a more realistic definition of the word philanthropy in its historical con text, rather than to the exclusion of Bentham from its mantle. Eight eenth century philanthropy has only passing consan'~Ullllty with current notions of humanism, and, in all things except his lack of religious zeal and perhaps the eXtremity of his logic, Bentham may be taken as being fairly typical of it. (12) It was just this matrix of philanthropic concern that generated the rationale of the prison system. To clarify this close relation between philanthropy and the in vention of the modern idea of the prison, a schematic outline of the prevailing situation is necessa ry. The convict was then a novelty. Prisons up until the later part of the c ~'1tury were places for persons

awaiting tr ia l, while only debtors and minor mi s demeanants were se nt enced to c onfinement of any kin d. The o ver w helming proportion of cr im in al offences wer e wit hout be nefit of clergy, that is they were punisha ble by death, while fines, b randings etc. were the usual forms of secondary punishment. The very thought of enduring im prisonment as a regenerative, or protective, or even punitive device stems only from the seventeenth century. (13) During chis period of what Foucault calls ' Ie grand refermement' madmen , beggars, fools, paupers and debtors were set apart in an effort to curb the spreading of moral contaminations. But criminals were to receive no such attentions until the Enlighten ment quelled the fury of the so called 'Sanguinary Laws'. Prison architecture during this period of reform was in a slate of gestation; there were no accepted models of either formal or operational arrangement-most of the improvements that had arisen were spin-off from the more advanced hospital and lazaretto design. (14) There was still little rdation benveen the architectural forms devised and the social purposes they were supposed to serve. It was Bentham, more than any other, who gave this quintessential purposiveness to the design of prisons and similar institutions of control. (1 5) Under the headings Safe Custody, Reformation and Economy he outlines the conditions that have to be satisfied by any prison plan if it is to be effective. Of these three necessary preconditions it was re formation that was the most in tractable problem as well as the most crucial, and Bentham provided an answer-with all the trappings of empirical common sense and logical deduction he held that a physical system, the Panopticon structure, integrated with an ad ministrativ'e system, or 'Plan of Jlvtanagement' of the same, could automatically and inevitably reform those who were subjected to its rigours-as he claims in that oft quoted dictum of his: 'Morals reformed-health preserved-indus try invigorated-instruction diffused -public burdens lightened.... all by a simple idea in architecture!' (16)

The doctrina of unmitigated secll!Jsion How was this mechanism of moral regen ~ ration to wOlk? The two

main mot ive forces toward v irt ue were provided by the surveillan ce system outlined above in conju n c tion with the seclusion of individu al

prisoners, each in a single cell. In

this they were to be kept for th e entire duration of th ei r confinem ent. Day, night, work , sleep, ablutio n , prayer, meals, in sickness and in health, everything performed , all passing in the same wedge of sp ace four feet by thirteen feet by 8.5 feet high. There seem to have been various reasons for this choice of regimen, and in itself the idea was not novel. A moder a tely rigorous isolation was enforced on part of the population of the Silentiumj or Rome House of Correction for young offend ers, erected by order of Pope Clement XI in 1703. The emphasis in this institution had also been on personal reformation and it is clear that the notion of solitary confinement Icading to penitence and pur-ity of heart is religious in nature rather tha n rationalistic or mechanistic an d that it stems from the early Christian Anchorite tradition. The penitentiary arrangement bears some resemblance to the Lavra type monas tries that flourished in the Near East around the 5th Century, in which a body of monks kept themselves in complete isola tion, usually in dispersed cave dwellings, coming together for prayer and ritual meals only. (17) The cells in the Silentium were provided with a primitive closet, while water, food and other necessaries were supplied by the officers. In the middle of the century Jonas Hanway, an English religious writer, philan thropist, traveller and pamphleteer, wrote Thoughts on a Plan for a Magdalen House (1759) in which he outlines a comparable system of individual isolation for fallen wom e n, and later noted the applicability of the system to prisons. (18) But although the Christian tide was strong, as such it could h ave had little direct influence on Jeremy Bentham, who 'was notoriously unmoved by metaphysical senti ments of any denomination, his approach being altogether more direct and physical. In a manner of speaking, Bentham takes the soul out of the structure of Christian Penitence and then pro ceeds to make thorough good use of the carcass. Rationalistic penology here borrows the forms of its expression largely from the pietistic. tradition.

J

It was on e of the mainsta ys 0: Bentham's Utilitarian philosph y th a t any human act c ould b e regard ed as leading to a certain quantu:n of pleasure or pain , eith er with respect to an individual or m a nkind in general. He even del ised an outline scheme for the quantification of this, calling it the Felec:jic Calculus. Since it was clear to him t ha t the pleasure of the social whole, rather than that of any particul ar individual, was the end of legislation, it seemed a self-evident corollary that any individual who acted against the interest or desires of the majority was acting in some sens<: immorally, and, by the same rhilosophic token, could only be re'TI'ained by a certain amount of pa ;n or dis pleasure. The Felecific Calculus was the guide to the treatment of sins and infringements that had already been committe d. B ut the Be nthamian concern was equally with those trespasses and offences that were yet to be; the potential crimes of the future. So, much of his attention was directed towards forestalling wrongdoing by indirect means; towards obstructing the paths to depravity and vice (which to him were kinds of action-not psy ·· chological states). Panopticon was designed to en force the mathematics of pain and pleasure with respect to accomplish ed criminal acts, but was, at the same time, arranged to function so as to impede the implementation of further illicit transactions on the part of the convicted. Bentham's view of the malefactor, like that of many later penologists, was from above. He says: 'Delinquents are a peculiar race of beings, who require unremitted inspection. Their weakness consists in yielding to the seductions of the passing mo ment. .. Their minds are weak and disordered'. C 9) So, instead of punishing 'the mischief of delinquen cy' with 'ineffectual punishments' (20) one tried to prevent the trans gression from taking place at alL These careless misdemeanours could be controlled by eliminating all temptation; by separating the crimi nal from all the destabilising, random and intemperate events characteristic of the real world, and more particularly from the company of like-minded persons; by regulating every action, event and communication through the 'apparent omniprescence of the inspector. ". combined with the

BENTHAM'S J>ANOJ>·u~".

- I"J •• 11.--:.ilcTIO)r.

Flc. llI.-G~o';"D P1.,'!It'.

!

r,:~. ~-=- bJi"""",i1f (, _I "!_ .........., Pft l SON CELl..

~/.. /7'/!I r ) ~-,. ~- - - - - ....

5. Top: Bed designs for a Poor-plan Ivlallufactory by Samuel Belllham and Samuel Bzmce (1797). The single beds were to be hauled up Oil pulleys to make way for' more profitable pursuits during the day.

  1. Centre: Pentonville 'Model Prison' cell (1840-42). Highly serviced for esselllially the same reasons as the Panopticon, it included a thermo ventilation plant zv 'hich served each

z.t¥t

cell with an adjustable warm-cool air supply, a trapped water closet, on tap cold water, gas lighting, triple glazing, and a bell system for service.

  1. Bottom: Elevation of the Poor-plait Panopticon devised by Bentham alld BWice. This was the most ullcom promising of rhe structural schemes, being almost ullcannily predicri·;.·e of later developments.

27 BENTHAM'S PANUl' ~._

IJ

9. Top: View of Le Vau's menagery for Louis XIV _at Versailles, built in

  1. The villa in the centre was a guest pavilion, designed to gi've a palloramic alld inclusive view of the animal parks._

ro. Bottom : A View of the Kirkdale

House of Correction of 1820. The curved terrace in the background is the cell block, the small rotulldCl ill [he cemre is the chapel, while the govel'llor's residence is 01'1 the right.

.. ?~^ ,

ROBIN EVANS

his ear to the tube.' (2 4) The se were to b e accompanied by a b ell sy stem to draw th e att en tion of th e convic t for instru Ct ion or co mmand. T he ind ivid ual tubes necd only b e the diam et er of a pea-shoo t er accordin g to Be nrham. The idea seem s to ha ve t om e from a

certain Mr. Merlin, w ho h ad i ns talled

a dome s tic speakin g -tu b e system compl ete with ancillary a tte ntion callers (a series of han d ope r at ed pointer dials) in hi s o wn residen c e. To tryout the device Sa muel built a set in the Bentham house in Queen ' s Square Place. (25) The Panopticon use was typically un compromising, but, as with un mitigated seclusion, the idea was later discarded as impractical by Jeremy, possibly because there was no way of preventing th ~ convicts having the reciprocal pri vilege of listening in to the ce ntral lodge. ( Fig 2) The system was revers ible and therefore out of character with the purpose of a building that was to produce a millicu encouraging an unimpeded flow of centripet al information but which would sim ultaneously provide an almost totally refractory medium to communi cation in a centrifugal direction: an artificial anisotropy that dominated detail design of Panopticon. In later schemes the central station is provided instead with a set of loud-hailers, through which the governor could direct the inmates, while the tubes remained as a staff intercom. between the governor and his officers on duty in the Ob servation galleries. (26 )

The well-serviced cell We pass now to one of the most curious and least exp l ored aspects of early prison architecture in general, and of the Panopticon in particular; the incorporation of integrated servicing syst ems into the building fabric. C learly, if one intends to keep a large body of people in a large number of isolated cellular compart ments, then either one supplies the necessities of life by providing nu mer ous ser vants to fetch and carry-which in itself gives num berless opportunities for 'trafficking a nd impropriety' or one installs mechanical systems for the sarr.e purpo ses within the cells. Bentham argued that the latter was anyw ay the les s expen sive, and therefore in cl uded in hi s specification for t he cell de sign a crude, untrapped

' ~ , '.. '."'"

    • _ -· _~ _ T '

1 I. T op: Blo ck plan of Samuel's She erness Do ckyard s scheme, 1812. A hub and sp ok e desl:£fn.

12. Bottom: Plan of the Edinborough Bridewell of 1794. Similar to th e B entham P a noptico71 in form but lacking it s operational sophistication and ratim wlity. It is cl ear that Robert Adam, the designer, was inspired by the latter' s publication.

2 51..


ROEIN EVANS

novelty, s imply poi nting o ut the conse qu ent direction s of a ir - fl o w. He suggest ed also th at all tb z fi u !s fro :: 11 th e r.ulinary fires etc ., should b e s ituat ed i nternall Y so as to co ntribut e to th e g~ n cral he at input. At one point h e even se ems to h'1-.: thought of hea ting the buildmg from th ese ' n ec ess ary' heat so urc es alone. It strikes one as anom alo us at first that systems and ap p urtenances so sophisticated fo r th e ir time s hould be destin ed f or the use of tho se for whom their co ntempor aries had little liking and on ly scant and

reserved sympathy. Do ubtless it l

was something to do with the common ideological predi s positions of the late eighteenth century: the belief in the ' moral effects of physical causes', (27) the characteri sa tion of disorder as unnatural, an unshakeable conviction among the e nlight~Ded th at indi viduals could b e improved-if not perfected. Together with a deterministic p sy chology of hum a(l mo tiv lI tion s a nd a good old fa sh ioned desire for civil order; the se w ere sufficient, if not necessary, causes for the peculiar institution al and archi tectural character of the Panoptioon. A building th at was, paradoxically enough, the outcrop of a basically optimistic view of human nature. It is difficult to argu e that the pr ecise form of th e well- serviced cdl in the P a nopticon was influential though it probabl y was so ; at the very least it was prophetic, since the Pen ·· tonville Model Prison of 1838 includ ed cells of a si:uil ar patt ~ rn.

14. To p: PL an of a D ep artmental IS. Sect io ll of one of Abel Bl oue t's pris01I by H arou R omai l1, published ' Pr o.iets de Pri so llS D ep artmentale .;' ,

with I S in t he Ins truct ion et P ro published by the Fr ench Mini sle re

gr am m e. A ra re' Byz antine' Pan op d e ['[merieul" ill 1841. Also a very

tico ll. close copy of the Penitellli erry Pall op licoll.

  • --_. --...:. : :: ~ ~ ' /

., I

\\ , ',

\ (^) ,.

~;>/

~,

. ~~,.

" '. ~ \

;/

\ \

//'

:.

'

\ (^) !i! I i / ,

.... ----:::.:..: .. ,

~. ... ~.. ., .- "~.^ .,

FlO :~ l. h..'"ti":l!11~,~1~ :

I' u,

/1 {Ll~

~ 54 -

3 I^ BENTHAM'S^ PANUJ:"^ 1~~^.

1 6. Top: Plan of Hro wn & Ha ugh's 17. B ot : 0 111 : The exerc is e y ard s at

p.1/cI Jte d R otary P rison of 188 1; art Pen lOHv ili e, 1838, were though tfu l~ )'

inverred Panopl icon The cells contrived 011 Belll hamian lines. 1 / clus ter round a rotati ng p ivot in lh each segme nt was placed a tread

centre, wh ich al so ac ts as a v eu f1'la tion mill. Til e gUQ/'d s wer e enclosed in

alld se rvi ce srack. Th rr c is only on the ce '](re parr , more or less con

do or to the 8 cells- a humall filin" cealed from the convicts. cabinet.

t

These were technicaiiy very a oyanc ed in the art of en vironmenta l control, and formed the ze nith 0 nineteenth century prison s erv ices, des pite their ea rly date.

Panopticoid precursors Examples of the many being ar ranged to view the one-the th ea tre principle-are predictabl y c ommon , but examples of the revers e or Panopticon kind are much more rare. Benthr.m himself cited the Randagh. ple asure dome in Chelsea, built in 1742, as a precursor to Panopticon a nd architecturally it wa s in some ways akin, but its purpos es and functions were very differe nt indeed -it just did not \york in the same w ay. The upper part of a certain conservatory in Hackney is also given by him as an 'Architectural similitude' , but again the connection is purely formal. Operationally the cIo" est ap proximations to Bentham's principle arc to be found in certain building typ es developed for aviaries and menageries. It might be thought signific:mt that his convict plan was paralleled most closely in the architecture of zoos, not s imply because of the analogy implied between the human and animal, but rather because it high lights the importance attached to observation as an end in it self in pri son architecture at this time. (28) Before the Panopticon the idea of continuous inspection in prisons wa , evident only in germinal form On 'y in the Ghent A1aison de Force (1772-3) and the three penal establishments built by William Blackburn at Liyerpool in 1779, Ip swich in 1786 and Northleach, Glouc s., in 1785 wa s there any em phasis on the administrative control of the inmates, and in all these de sign s it was as much a matter of con venience and ease of acess as of any thing else, since the visual control was limited to vie ws of the yards and courts-not of the night cells or of the day rooms where the inmates spent a vast proportion of their time. It was the prevention of escape rath er than the impo s ition of an unceasing surveillance that was the a rchitectural aim of thes e pl an s. So that although th ere are a number of plausible formal pro ge nitors of Be ntham' s Panopticon the me a ning a nd implications of the radiating plan were a ltcred quite radically by thi s novel in sertion of the principl e of cons ta nt

2.??

33

the standards of th e time (since

fir es w ere common in s uch i n

stituti ons an d were f re qu e ntl y dis asterous). Secondly th e i nte r ior structure is entirely of iron, the 1 pi^ au^ be^ ing^ th^ e first^ to^ propose^ its I larg^ e scale usc^ in^ this way.^ T h^ ere is a t yp ically suave an d novel use of tu b ular iron s upp OrtS for the galleries and roof w hi ch were to be fabricated by using th e standard contemporary rainwater p ipe. eO) The columns thus er ected werc to double up as exhaust flues from the fires and, inevitably, as rainwater do wn-pipes from the roof- 'articles for w hich it might otherwise be not altogether easy, in a building of so peculiar construction to find a convenient place'. (31) In an unusua lly lyrical passage, written later in life, he describes the overall impression given by the building thus : 'Glass was the sole material of whic h th e b o un dary all rou nd was comp osed, wit h the exce ption of the aggregate of th e iro n bars and the lea ding s ne ces sary for the embed di:ngs of th e p anes of gla ss. • • In the histo ry w ritt en by I -f or get what illu str iou s Frenchm a n, under the unpretending title of Fai ry Tales, one of th e occurrences is th e

imprisonment of the heroin e in

a place, the bou nd aries of whi ch were com po sed thr ough ou t of o ne solid mass of glass. Of this arc hetyp e the Pa nopticon was as near a simili tu de as th e limited power

of huma n art co uld admit it'. (32)

As can b e se en from the elevation

specified in these parts mainly be ca use of its in here ntly slim pro p ortion s, pr even ting t he creation of ' blind spots' be twe en the observer and th e observed. In his own wor ds : ' airiness, lightsomness, cco nomy and incrcased security arc the evident results of this simple economy'.(34) It is strange that Bentham, despite his avowed antipathy to wards anything that went beyond the bounds of delineated purpose, was not entirely unmoved by the aesthetics of things. His delight in the spatial configurations of the inner part of the rotunda, and in the transparency of glass make him seem rather untypical in this matter. There is a collection of unpublished papers in University College London in which he describes the interior of a projected inn, to be associated with a set of Panopticons, and in ten d ed for the use of visitors to these (for all the se institutions were to be open to public inspection). Benth am also in ten d ed to live in it. It was to be filled with a variety of cur io us visual distractions f or its res id ents. Endless trompe l' oeil vistas created by carefully disposed mirrors. 'Electrically' driven mo biles of coloured glass panels lit from behind a nd dynamite fountain displays of coloured waters and many other strange contrivances. (35) A meeting, maybe, of the more sensational aspects of Baroque visual engineering with the modern con cern with the dissipation of solid of the 1797 Poor Plan Building,. matter into ephemeral energy. this is n ot too exaggerated an image. This structur e, at a glanc e, could be mistaken for the Sheerness Boat Store, erected some sixty years later and designed by G.T. G reene -famous for its cast-iron exposed structural members and its con tinuous horizontal fenestration both of which are equally evident in th e Bentham building. Also to be of iron were the cell gates, the circular observation gal leries~ the galleries for the cells, staircases, balustrading and cause I, ways between the lodge and the

I \

cells. Starting off with the somewhat Pir a nesian notion of a 'multitude of flying staircases of open ironwork'. (J3) [Fig 4] Bentham later rejects this in favour of four narrow connecting bridges between the centre part and the periphery. 'Out went, accordingly, the storeys of the inter mediate area. Space took the place of matter, from the bottom of the building to the top '. Iron was

'Position, not form' was Bentham's terse statement regarding his cri teria of design. One feels that it applies as equally to his ideas of beauty as to his concept offunctional organisation.

Trials and tribulations No Panopticon building was ever erected by Jeremy and only one, 'fleetingly,' u nder the direction of Samuel. There were, however, many projects, ranging from hasty sketches to almost consummated schemes, that fill the years between 1788 and

  1. There is space for only a few of the se to be mentioned here. The National Penitentiaries that were supposed to follow on the heels of the Blackstone and Eden Bill of 1779, and about which Jeremy wrote his View of the Hard Labour Bill, never materialised. In 1794 Bentham managed, after two years of unashamed s df advertisement, to convince the ad

257

BENTIlAM' S PA N v£_.

ministration that a Panopticon woul d serve this purpose admirabl y, and in the SaI!!C year an act was pass ed permitting the construction of the penitentiary, includ ing all the car dinal p oim s put f orward in h is 1791 publication. Suffice it to say that after acquiring, w ith some difficulty, a site at Millbank, ne ar \Vestminster, and after ha ving ordered the greater part of the ironwork, some of which was already delivered, the Governm ent back-peddled. R e presentations f or the completion of the contract were conducted with unceasing vigour by Jeremy, but to no avail. In 1814 he obtained £23, compensation for his troubles. The project, plus the personal services of its author as gaoler, was also offered to the French and Irish. The Assemblee Nationale published a pamphlet, the Panoptiql.le, in 1791, and Parnell's Government financed the printing of the first edition of Panopticon in Britain in the same year, but in both cases the desire for a Benthamian prison waned with the passage of time and nothing came of it.(36) After the final abandonment of the penitentiary scheme, an octagonal, centralised, school-house plan was developed (1816) to put into effect Bentham's ideas on the education of 'the middle and higher ranks in life'. This scheme, too, was abortive, mainly due to the legal difficulties attendant on the siting of it at the bottom of Jeremy's private garden. The formal arrange ment was to reinforce a tri-partite hierarchy, as in the penitentiary. The master on a high pedestal in the centre of the affair, surrounded by a circle of lower lecterns in which were situated eight monitors, while eight associated classes of pupils, one for each monitor, were arrayed in rising segmental, fanning banks of desks and benches. The instructional principle was bor rowed from the already well-known Bell monitorial system-the master bein g responsible for overall control and the tutelage of the monitors, the monitors being set to work on the task of instructing th e younger or duller children.(37) Children were in some senses, very appropri a te material for Ben tham's experimentations, since th ey were at once malleable and in need of physical control-open to the influence of systematic institution ali sation, while also being capable of a pparently random acts of m is

ROBIN EVANS

.- ~- (^) .. ....

'

-' ~^ "^ -r-^ _^ _^ "'7^ ~^ ',~^ :-^ '"^ '. ,^ '.

"':PUi'T/~ '. ''''\

I

~, .~___ l y / /_ ~ .

'" ' ;i \

P~ I iii

( '\ (^) ~4 )

\ ~\ \ \ \ ./ ./ ,!^ .$'^ / 1/ , \ '\ ~ - / (^) /; I

\ V'

~' -

I$lf:. ' ,''t-~

fi .;I'·"/A". I:J.. 1J,". ,,.. / ·.~ /.) · '. · "-'.I : I/" ~ "F. _ " • • '^ ',^. : ,^ #.Ii,li^ ~^ ,^ '/^ "^ /'1..1."

  • J ', .N',. ,;)"(./; ,

\

~ J/ / /./.

~ - -.- --l^ J

. .~ ''-

\ "~. .;)

~ I .. '- ...;:-.. ~_ - , --d i ~ ") -; " / .. •.

// /~ II. ,//.

-F U', //.II"/' ."^ ",--,,.

1 9 /1bo've,^ Another^ late scheme dated^ chief^ or^ violence.^ A^ Nursery^ P a^ nop 1826-7 showing a semi-circular Pal1 op ticon, or^ Paed^ ot^ rophium^ is^ described ti con wit h adminisiratio ll accommoda in^ some^ unpubli^ s^ hed^ papers^ dated tion tah ng up the wing segments 1794.^ (38)^ It^ was^ to^ be^ yet^ another on either side. (Bentham iHss. circular^ building^ situated^ in^ the U.C. L. ) Similar to Raben Adam's centre^ of^ a se^ mi-circle^ of^ cottages, Edinborol!gh Brid ewell design. The^ cottages^ were^ for fallen^ women,

20. Belo w. An illustratiort by G eo rg e the central nursery being for their Holford, a promi1lent ea r(y 19th illegitimate^ offspring^ and^ having^ a century pri son reformel", show'ing the 2 nodal^ inspectress's^ lodge^ for^ the model f orms of prison architecture. usual^ surveillance^ purposes.^ In Th e 'Insp ection prin ciple' was much connection^ with^ thi^ s^ nursery,^ a vaunted by Holford, but tlte pan optical special^ trapdoor^ bed^ with^ a^ soil form was either 111i sco 1lstl"lled or tray^ beneath^ was^ designed^ to ignored. Favoured were th e more serve as a^ cot^.^ It^ was^ dispo^ sed^ in r;; ollven!iollal ter ra ce or block designs. such^ a w^ ay^ as to^ prevent^ the^ sleeping

2-5i

child 's faeces and urine from fouling th e bedding. T he whole sett lement was designat ed 'the ' Sot imioll or T imosterio l1 for the prese rvation of fem ale delica cy' an d was to b e adjacent to a Pa no pti eon pe nitentIary ( pr es umably the Na tional Pe nit e nti ar y). The capital for this ventur e was to be raised by loans on intere st, and the pre serve d young ladies were to work in the pris on but ch ery to pay hack the i ncur red de bt. (39) Another curio in jeremy's oeu vr e is the PteilotrophiUln, a semi circular Panopticon on a rotating base, for th e profitable rais ing of variolls species of fowl orientation could be adjusted at will, in order to combat adverse weather s. The informing idea was to provide optimum conditions for physical growth in a small space and to prevent the usual corollaries of overcrowding-fighting among the birds. (40) It was the fate of the Panopticon to be very influential, but influen tial in obscured and de vious

. ways. !v1any institutions proclaimed as Panopticoid w ere not really so ; for example, Latrobe's Virginia State Prison of 1797-1800, or the ·We st e rn Penitentiary of Pennsylvan ia, built by Strickland in r820. These being formed of long terraces arranged round circular or semi circular courts, were remini s cent of the Circus at Bath, rather than. the completely enclosed, Pantheon like Panopticon. A variation of this deviant type, also associated with the Panopticon principle, was the design finally chosen for the English National Penitentiary and built at Millbank (designed by William Williams in 1812). It is indicative though, that the second National Peniten tiary, the Model Prison at Penton ville of 1838-40, was far more Bentham ian in conception than the first. The sys tem of surveillance, the well serviced-cell, the one way communi cations system, the solitary se clu s ion of the prisoners, the logic used to justify the regimen were all redolent of his influence. (Fig6)('il ) There were also a number of prison s built directly on the archi tectural model of Panoptic on. Robert Adam's Edinburgh Bridewell (1794) (Fig.12) and the Female Pri s on at L a ncaster Castle (1821) (FigI3d ) were probably the first. Some smaller Iri sh County Gaols, and a few of the D e partmental Prisons built in France after the 'Projct de Loi' of r 841 ( Fig. IS ) (42) followed. Never

ROBIN EVA NS

can only be seen as, in a wa y, VIsIonary (as uncharacteristic a term as this may be used in con nection with Bentham) unrestrain ed as it is by eit her ch ance or necessity. In this view th e P anopticon stands, not as an emanation of practical utility, but as a gesture towards a social w orld of a certain moral te nor. Be nt ham pre supposes that it is possib le to generate preferred human responses through the mute agency of the 'useful' object, also that these re sponsive actions c ould themselves be th e threshold of f ulftlment and happiness for man kin d. T he Panoptico n s were p rob a bly th e most severe, coherent, and te lling essay in th is mod e: Purgational chambers through w hich industrial civilisation was to be ass:rred of a satisfactory teleology; in which th e promise of heaven on E a rth , the dream of the En lig hte nment, was given a t ruly me chan istic interpret ation.

/' _ ' I"~ " 8.[-I '~t·~.l.~ I ~,.lr "") (^) I'• [l~ , rh ~\ (^) A .....,_ ~."_,_p. ... -=.r-.. -.-^ I .~ (^) ~.~,:: tI

1t

., '~ -- '" "~:.

. (^) - ,;:.-" '.~;".,~ iJ : ,. ~ .... -.-;::.

23 .. Sectioned axonometric showing the 10.^ Cold water supply from well to services and environmental controls of cistern. 1791 p,Jnopticon II. Cold water supply StaellS from cistern to each cell.

I. Fre sh air illiet. (^) 12. Soil stacks and closet in each cell.

2. R ecirculated air inlet. _13. Closed sewer.

  1. Mo dified Franklin heating stove._ _14. Loud-hailers arrayed round the 4- Radial hot air ducts conveying Inspector's lodge for commands to the heat towards the cells. prisoners.
  2. Grated hot/fresh air outlets. 15._^ _Tin speaking-tube system from the IlISpector's lodge to the inspection
  3. Ventilation stacks serving every galleries (ullspecified Ilumber)._

cell, draw the heated air from 5 into

the inhabited parts. 16.^ Structural^ iron^ minwater^ pipe passing into a storage tank for fire

  1. _Valve oulet to ventilation stacks fighting at sub-basement level. prevents ingress of cold air.
  2. Structural iron fl u es to stove.
  3. An nular cistern for fresh water. 9._ ~flell and manual pump.

2JoO

Ref er e nces

  1. The bulk of these are known from the unpublished Be ntham Manuscripts at Univer sity College, London.
  2. See 'Panopticon or In spection "'. Principle in Dockyards & Manu factories' by Maria Sophia Bentham, Ci vil Engi nee r {<y' Architects' J ournal
  3. Vol. XIV, pp. 453-
  4. There is no a dequate illustration of this, the published picture being erroneous in several respects and sketchy. 4. Panopticon, Letter II.
  5. Ibid ., Letter V.
  6. Bowring (ed.) The Works of Jeremy Bentham, · Vol. XI p. 96. 7. Panopticon Letter I. 8. Panopticon PostscnfJt Part I. (Bowring vol. IV, p. 83) and University College MSs, Portfolio XIX, paper 24. 9. Postscript Part I, Bowring, IV, p. 85.
  7. See, for example, G. Himrnel farbe, 'The Haunted House of Jeremy Bentham', in Ideas in History, eds. Herr & Parker 1965, & N. Hans, 'Bentham & the Utilitarians', in Pioneers of English Educatioll. ed. A. Judge s, 1952. II. Cesare Beccaria, 011 Crimes & Punishments, English ed. Trans.
  8. p. 162.
  9. For a study of this subject see: English Philanthropy: 1660-1960. David Owen. Harvard 1964. Parts 1 & 2.
  10. Michel Foucault; Historie de la Folie a l'Age Classique, Paris 1961.
  11. For examples of this see J olm Jebb, Thoughts on the Construction & Polity of PriSOIlS, London, 1786,. and Howard's Stat e of the Prisons, both of which concern themselves primarily with matters of health and sanitation.
  12. All the same, there seem to be three other contenders for this hon our; John Howard, whose architec tural works were of an ephemeral significance, William Blackburn, whose work, though ingenious, and influential at the time, was a reflection of accepted ideas on the nature of prisons, and lastly, John Haviland, designer of the Phila delphia East Penitentiary, for whom see: N. B. Jolmson, 'John Haviland' in Pioneers of Criminology, ed. Mannheim, 1961.
  13. It is the opening passage of Panopticon.
  14. The reasoning behind this was similar as well; the Anchorite'S desire was to escape moral con tamination. The decisive difference was of course in the matter of con sent.
  15. In Solitude & Imprisonment with Proper Profitable Labour, London, 1776, and DistributiveJustice & M er cy, London 1781.
  16. The Rationale of Punishment, London, · 1830 (original 1',,1Ss 1775) book V, ch. 2, p. 365.
  17. UC MSs Portfolio CXIXa, paper

21. Panopticon, Letter X.

22. Ibid., Letter II.

  1. Whether this was the case or not seems to have been the crucial issue of penal philosophy from around 1830-60. In defence of separation see, for example, John T. Burt, The Results of the System of Separate Confinement, London, 1852. In condenmation of it see Charles Dickens' American Notes ch. 7. 24. PQ1Wptic01i, L e tter I.
  2. See Maria Sophia Bentham, 'Memoire of th e late Brigadier General Sir Samuel Benthanl,' in Pape rs & Practical Illustrations of Public Wor/u, London 1856. 26. Postscipt, Bowring vol. IV, p. 85.
  3. An interesting example of this, in which the penological implica tions are discussed, is Benjamin Rush's An Inquiry into the Influen ce of Physical Causes Upon the Moral Faculty Philadelphia 1785.
  4. This was written before I dis covered a plan for a Bridewell at Northleach which was conceived and built by William Blackburn in 1785, now stored in the Gloves. C. R. Office, though closely modelled. on the Ghent Maison de Force, includes a central governors lodge with bays facing onto each courtyard and also gives a panoramic view of all the cells. I year later in 1787, an almost identical plan was used for the county prison at Chester built by Thomas Harrison. Even this, however, is only a step en route to the total surveillance of Panopticon. 2'). G. Geis on Jeremy Bentham in Pionee rs of Criminology , ed. Mann heim, 1961. 30. Postscript, Bowring vol. IV, p. 98.
  5. Ibid. 32 Bowring, vol. XI, pp. 104-5. 33. Postscript Bowring, vol. IV, p. 70.
  6. Ibid.
  7. University College MSs. Port folio CVIIb., papers 104-5.

BENTHAM'S PANOP TI COR

36 Bentham himself wrote an ac count of th e attempts to build in History of the W"a r bet wee n Jeremy B en t ham and George III by one of the Beligerents. Unpublished, it remains in the British Museum Bentham MSs.

  1. The history of the school and its architecture can be found in the Place Papers Collection, Vol. 60, in the British Museum.
  2. This was probably the same as the Nothotrophium, for the 'Innocent offspring of clandestine love'..
  3. UC MSs Portfolio CVIIb, Folder 21 & Portfolio CXXXIII, folder I.
  4. UC MSs Portfolio CVIIb Folder 20. Dated 1794.
  5. The best dexcription of Penton ville, from the architectural angle, is the Report of the Surveyor General of Prisons on the Construction, V entilation & Details of Pentonvil/e Prison. London 1844.
  6. A nunlber of Panopticon prisons are illustrated in Instruction et Programme pour Maisons d'Arret from the Ministere de l' Interieur, Paris, 1841.
  7. Himmelfarbe, Op. Cit. p. 233·

Acknowledgements

Apart from the noted works ack nowledgement is given to the following sources: Thomas A. Markus: 'The Pattern of the Law' Architectural Review, Vol. II6 Oct. 1954 p. 251-6. This is, incidentally, the only recent outline of the development of prison architecture in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Aldous Huxley: Pris011s London, Faber & Faber. A juxtapositioning of the Benthamian Prison with tile 'metaphysical' prisons of Piranesi. James Mill: 'Prisons &. Prison Discipline'. Encyclopaedia Britannica Supplement to 4th ed. VI, 385. 18 24. Graham Wallas: 'Bentham as Political Inventor', ComemporalY Review, Vol. 129, March 1926, pp. 3°8- 1 9. Leon Radzinowicz: Ideology & Crime London, Heinemann, 1966. A short history of the genesis & directions of criminological thought. Gustave Loisel: Histoire des Menageries de I'Amiquite a Nos Jours 3 vols, Paris 1912. For sections on the aviaries of Lucullus & Varo and for Le Vau's Versailles Menagery. This article appeared in a slightly different form in Italian in the journal Controspazio, Oct. 1970.

Z.~ \