Summary

In this week’s reading, the author claims that we live in a “surveillance” society, where surveillance tools are often installed in the architecture around us, in order to maintain control over us. Peter explores this relationship between architecture and power, and how power has convoluted and hijacked the essence of architecture in many ways. Instead of being about artistic expression and enhancing the health/experience of the individual, it has become a game of power, one where architecture becomes the vessel for surveillance. Peter claims that modernist architecture marked the shift to surveillance society, and that we have created spaces of constructed visibility.

Peter claims that new technologies has helped create this surveillance society. One of these technologies is glass, which modern architecture uses heavily. Glass creates transparency in buildings, and allows for visual connection between indoors and outdoors, which is advantageous in many cases. However, this transparency also promotes surveillance and allows for easier observation of people. Overall, Peter believes that the partnership between architecture and surveillance is a dangerous one, and that steps must be taken to free architecture from surveillance.

Building Interpretation

I decided to choose Whole Foods to examine to its relationship between architecture and surveillance. On both the exterior and interior of the store there are dozens of cameras that observe people’s behavior. The front of the store is made largely of glass, which allows people to both view the inside from outside, and outside from inside, diminishing privacy and encouraging surveillance. The cashier stations are configured in a way that the employees can both see potential threats coming from the outside, as well as see potential shoplifters down the aisles. This is because the cashier stations are located at the end of the aisles, allowing them to see down the aisles and surveil potentially suspicious customers.

Amazon’s recent purchase of Whole Foods raises even greater implications for the relationship between surveillance and architecture. Amazon uses a form of surveillance to track customers desires and wants, and then advertises them products that might fulfill these desires. Surveillance within Whole Foods, and how they use customer data, raises ethical questions about surveillance in the modern age and whether customers privacy is being violated. Additionally, it is known that Amazon that has collaborated with and given information to government agencies, which raises further questions about the relationship between corporations and the government, and their attempt to control and surveil the population.

Interior of Whole Foods