Article Summary: 

As a society, we have attached to this need to hold power; Power over the environment, power over politics, and power over one another. We have inhabited a disciplinary society and as a result, we use surveillance to exercise this. There is clarity in knowing what your surroundings are and what lies around the corner. “It is the fact of being constantly seen, of being able always to be seen, that maintains the disciplined individual in his subjection (Jones pg. 3)”. During the 19th century, new modes of cognition and control were adopted as all certainty was further based on visibility alone.  

As modern architecture and the idea of the “new age” rises, surveillance and visibility become important aspects to designs. Materials such as glass, steel, and concrete now embody the new architecture movement and modernity. I’d argue that glass was the most important element to the modern movement due to the fact that nothing can hinder the gaze from either the interior or the exterior. “It is what connects and implicates Modernist architecture in the constitution and operation of the surveillance society (Jones pg. 7)”. Now people rely only on the sure path of reason. Designers wanted to create clear, organic architecture, that was visible from all aspects; Nothing hiding, and nobody not being seen. 

Building Interpretation: 

The 541 Sushi Bar located on the corner of Pearl Street and Broadway in Eugene Oregon creates a welcoming open space by providing natural lighting through the large windows facing East. These windows help make the rather small restaurant feel bigger as it connects the outside to the interior of the space allowing people to feel surrounded and encapsulated in the exterior environment. There is also an aspect of entertainment that is at play with the large windows, as customers can watch and observe what is going on outside. The total presence in the light also acts as a good visibility strategy for those inside the building.  

This is where we see the Western philosophy appearing as surveillance becomes very important to companies in America. “Surveillance plays a key role in the disciplinary society, being a specific ‘disciplinary mechanism and an organizing principle behind many others (Jones pg.2)”. And as values in technology grew, surveillance cameras were put in place to keep people accountable for their actions. The architecture of the building provides a visual power that keeps people in line; Open spaces, windows, and surveillance cameras give the owners of the building clarity and closure knowing that they know everything that goes on in their store without them physically having to be present. Modern architecture has been adaptive to the new surveillance society and uses techniques to exploit man’s actions.