READING SUMMARY

Peter Jones chapter BUILDING THE EMPIRE OF THE GAZE: The Modern Movement and the Surveillance Society, he describes how the modern movement influences privacy in architectural buildings and it created an atmosphere of constant surveillance. Surveillance – now in the modern world – was an essential mechanism in society. Some forms of architecture were crucial to the mechanism of surveillance. Architecture was not only about how it looked from the outside but how people experience the inside out. The modern movement has contributed to the rise of the surveillance society and the implications this has for our privacy and freedom. 

Privacy was achieved in buildings which were designed to be seen without transparency. So, a problem arises with architectural forms and its functions. Buildings now were designed to maintain people inside and control, with visibility and detailed control toward those who were inside. 

Within this period of time around the 19th century photography and cinema were invented, creating new modes of control. These new technologies gave the idea of surveillance a total visibility, with indistinguishable images. The modern movement created the surveillance society. Glass was essential in the modern movement. It was a material that gave an easier access of visibility inside the building. Having no partitions and open spaces the desired detail control could be achieved. 

The new factories are a good example of the modern movement and surveillance. The factories were promoted as progressive and “modern” by being airy and light. However, these buildings are characteristics of surveillance. “Modernist design facilitated the visibility, observation and control of labor in large-scale enterprises.” (Jones, pp.10)

BUILDING INTERPRETATION

Day and Night Boba Tea House is a good example of building an empire of the gaze. It is a small space which is an environment of constant surveillance, but it was designed very meticulously. The experience of the customer is not about them feeling seen but the space and the different seating options makes the space feel private and “safe”. The counter is in the center where they can see every seating option and the facade is all glazed, reducing that sense of invisibility. 

The casual design makes the space light and airy making it welcomed for the customers. Nonetheless there are cameras thanks to technology that are watching people 24/7, but it is a part of society nowadays that we don’t even pay attention to them. The place permits free visibility from staff to customers and vice versa. Bright spaces that create the illusion of wide rooms that are easy to oversee. The modern movement influences surveillance but technology puts this space and many others in the eyes of everyone by being in social media and mass communication programs. Day and Night is a good example of medium surveillance that the customer is not aware of. It is an example of surveillance taking the route of observing but not controlling.

Perspective of the space showing transparency in the glazed facade and the visibility of the counter towards the different seating options.