On SURVEILLANCE architecture

 

Psalm 127:1

King James Version

127 Except the Lord build the house, 

they labour in vain that build it: 

except the Lord keep the city, 

the watchman waketh but in vain.

This will be a short feature on surveillance architecture.

No, not on the design of cctv's and all that.

But more on the shape of buildings.

And what is housed in those structures.

A few come to mind:

Jeremy Bentham and Willey Reveley's "panopticon":

"Bentham commissioned drawings from an architect, Willey Reveley. Bentham reasoned that if the prisoners of the panopticon prison could be seen but never knew when they were watched, the prisoners would need to follow the rules. Bentham also thought that Reveley's prison design could be used for factories, asylums, hospitals, and schools."

-- Wikipedia

America's "NSA":

"The main NSA headquarters and operations building is what James Bamford, author of Body of Secrets, describes as "a modern boxy structure" that appears similar to "any stylish office building."[161] The building is covered with one-way dark glass, which is lined with copper shielding in order to prevent espionage by trapping in signals and sounds."

-- Wikipedia

UK's "The Doughnut":

"The Doughnut is the nickname given (due to its resemblance to a doughnut) to the headquarters of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ),[1][3] a British cryptography and intelligence agency. It is located on a 71 hectares (176 acres) site in Benhall, in the suburbs of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in South West England."

-- Wikipedia

America's "33 Thomas Street":

"33 Thomas Street (formerly the AT&T Long Lines Building) is a 550-foot-tall (170 m) windowless skyscraper in the Tribeca neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States... Designed in the Brutalist architectural style, it is a telephone exchange or wire center building which contained three major 4ESS switches used for interexchange (long distance) telephony, as well as a number of other switches used for competitive local exchange carrier services. "

-- Wikipedia

Curiously-shaped buildings, right?

Surely, it's for both function, and form.

As student of architecture, we were asked to think on those two.

Not enough times.

Form, versus function.

Which matters more in our digital surveillance societies?

Why the surveillance at all?

Who are we spying on?

What privacy have we got left?

What about you?

What is your occupation?

What is your pre-occupation?

May it be of the LORD, instead of the world.

Ephesians 5:11-12

King James Version

11 And have no fellowship 

with the unfruitful works of darkness, 

but rather reprove them.

12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things 

which are done of them in secret.

Colossians 3:1-2

King James Version

3 If ye then be risen with Christ, 

seek those things which are above, 

where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

2 Set your affection on things above, 

not on things on the earth.

1 John 2:15-16

King James Version

15 Love not the world, 

neither the things that are in the world. 

If any man love the world, 

the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world, 

the lust of the flesh, 

and the lust of the eyes, 

and the pride of life, 

is not of the Father, 

but is of the world.

1 John 2:17

King James Version

17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: 

but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Related material:

JESUS sees THROUGH us

The way of nations

Sins of society

On NOT spying

born again looks at tech

Image: Clipart Library

All other images: Wikipedia