Hiya Skeleton Crew,

Welcome to Wednesday. It’s by far the Wedsniest day a’ the week!

Today’s Trivias

Trivia 1

Before we leave prisons behind altogether, let’s take one last look at a li’l quotation:

Morals reformed—health preserved—industry invigorated—instruction diffused—public burthens lightened—Economy seated, as it were, upon a rock—the gordian knot of the Poor-Laws not cut, but untied—all by a simple idea in Architecture!—Thus much I ventured to say on laying down the pen—and thus much I should perhaps have said on taking it up, if at that early period I had seen the whole of the way before me.

So begins a what text by Mister Jeremy Bentham that’s subtitled The Inspection-House? In it, he proposes a titular architectural layout where a single guard can sit in the middle of a big ol’ circular structure and keep an eye on ALL the prisoners at once. Super efficient!! Also: kinda terrifyin’.

The design’d go on to inspire the design a’ several real-life prisons, includin’ the Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois, Cuba’s Presidio Modelo, an’ the Casa de Detenção do Recife in Brazil.

Trivia 2

Ol’ Jer-Bear’s proposal from Q1 was picked up later by what French philosopher, who in his book Discipline and Punish said it’d be better to think a’ the concept less as a literal buildin’ an’ more of a “diagram of a mechanism of power reduced to its ideal form”. (Yikes—that don’t sound very nice at all!!!)

OK then

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

If ya give me your email address, I’ll send some trivias to ya! No joke!!!