The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe (-opticon) all (pan-) prisoners without the prisoners being able to tell if they are being observed or not. :
The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe (-opticon) all (pan-) prisoners without the prisoners being able to tell if they are being observed or not.
In his own words, Bentham described the Panopticon as “a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind in a quantity hitherto without example.” :
In his own words, Bentham described the Panopticon as “a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind in a quantity hitherto without example.”
Millbank Prison was a large prison built beside the River Thames in Millbank, Pimlico, London. Work started in 1812 and it opened in 1821. It was designed by William Williams in 1812 in accordance with the utilitarian principles laid down by Jeremy Bentham. It adopted the ‘separate model’ of solitary confinement and hard work designed to promote reflection and reform. :
Millbank Prison was a large prison built beside the River Thames in Millbank, Pimlico, London. Work started in 1812 and it opened in 1821. It was designed by William Williams in 1812 in accordance with the utilitarian principles laid down by Jeremy Bentham. It adopted the ‘separate model’ of solitary confinement and hard work designed to promote reflection and reform.
The external walls form an irregular octagon, and enclose no less than eighteen acres of ground. This vast space comprehends seven distinct, though conjoined, masses of building, the centre being a regular hexagon, and the others branching from its respective sides. By this means the governor or overseer may, at all times, from the windows in the central part, have time power of overlooking every division of the prison. Mogg's New Picture of London and Visitor's Guide to it Sights, 1844 :
The external walls form an irregular octagon, and enclose no less than eighteen acres of ground. This vast space comprehends seven distinct, though conjoined, masses of building, the centre being a regular hexagon, and the others branching from its respective sides. By this means the governor or overseer may, at all times, from the windows in the central part, have time power of overlooking every division of the prison. Mogg's New Picture of London and Visitor's Guide to it Sights, 1844