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Honestly, I think I'd prefer the physical structure of a Panopticon to the "Warehouse" style open offices that exist today (it would certainly be quieter). Som

Honestly, I think I'd prefer the physical structure of a Panopticon to the "Warehouse" style open offices that exist today (it would certainly be quieter). Some of these were actually built - here's a neat overview of some in Cuba - http://weburbanist.com/2014/05/15/real-life-panopticons-deserted-dystopian-prisons-in-cuba/ http://weburbanist.com/2014/05/15/real-life-panopticons-dese...

trhway 9y ago
As the open-floor plan is already basically a Panopticon - with the director in his office with a glass wall through which he directly overlooks us in the open-floor area, and the manager just at the strategic table (his back to the window, face overlooking our team) adding any "cell" walls would be a vast improvement (which also would result in improvement for lighting (limiting direct Sun hitting eyes/monitor), AC and ventilation (better turbulence/mixing before cold/fresh air just rivers away like it does in the open-floor) and thus less virus spreading effects, etc...) The new Apple "spaceship" building would have "pods" so depending on how field of view is organized there it may be kind of Panopticon.
- Animats 9y ago
  Banks used to do that explicitly. The managers sat on a raised platform, in the open, overlooking the tellers and banking floor. Some bank branches still have a raised platform.
elil17 9y ago
It should be noted these panopticons were built by Machado, the dictator who Castro rebelled against.
nerfhammer 9y ago
Weirdly it feels like it would be more embarrassing sitting in the tower rather than one of the cells. The person in the tower can only look at a few cells at a time but hundreds of people in the cells will be staring at the tower all the time.
- jaclaz 9y ago
  >The person in the tower can only look at a few cells at a time but hundreds of people in the cells will be staring at the tower all the time. Naah, it was taken care of, of course in the new project, and it's not a tower anymore, it's the Nest: >Will I be able to see you in Nest, watching me work? No. Nest will be coated in one-way mirrored glass. And we are not “watching you,” we are compassionately evaluating your flow state. Mr. Bentham was very clear that, for objectivity, team members shouldn’t know when they are being evaluated by “the all-seeing, hundred-eyed giant.”
  - aries1980 9y ago
    > Will I be able to see you in Nest, watching me work? > No. Nest will be coated in one-way mirrored glass. With polarised filters you can see through such glasses. How do you make it polarfilter-proof?
- kybernetikos 9y ago
  Bentham didn't want the people in the outside structure to ever know whether they were being observed or not at any particular time, this was a key part of the way it was supposed to work, so the people in the tower cannot be seen by the people in the cells.
otakucode 9y ago
That is what I was thinking. The quietness and difficulty of distraction alone would be a monumental improvement. Overall, of course, I think it is a recipe for disaster, but simply going down a checklist of various factors, at least the panopticon model would avoid many of the situations open floor plan offices promote that are a cancer to any business where mental work is important. Our existing office plans were optimized for repetitive clerical work and manufacturing-driven work. That mental work requires a different office environment really shouldn't surprise anyone, and since there are 1000+ studies now showing how badly open floor plans destroy productivity, it's becoming a real test of how much do companies value the superstitions of the managers over actual profit.

trhway 9y ago

As the open-floor plan is already basically a Panopticon - with the director in his office with a glass wall through which he directly overlooks us in the open-floor area, and the manager just at the strategic table (his back to the window, face overlooking our team) adding any "cell" walls would be a vast improvement (which also would result in improvement for lighting (limiting direct Sun hitting eyes/monitor), AC and ventilation (better turbulence/mixing before cold/fresh air just rivers away like it does in the open-floor) and thus less virus spreading effects, etc...) The new Apple "spaceship" building would have "pods" so depending on how field of view is organized there it may be kind of Panopticon.

Animats 9y ago
Banks used to do that explicitly. The managers sat on a raised platform, in the open, overlooking the tellers and banking floor. Some bank branches still have a raised platform.

elil17 9y ago

It should be noted these panopticons were built by Machado, the dictator who Castro rebelled against.

nerfhammer 9y ago

Weirdly it feels like it would be more embarrassing sitting in the tower rather than one of the cells. The person in the tower can only look at a few cells at a time but hundreds of people in the cells will be staring at the tower all the time.

jaclaz 9y ago
>The person in the tower can only look at a few cells at a time but hundreds of people in the cells will be staring at the tower all the time. Naah, it was taken care of, of course in the new project, and it's not a tower anymore, it's the Nest: >Will I be able to see you in Nest, watching me work? No. Nest will be coated in one-way mirrored glass. And we are not “watching you,” we are compassionately evaluating your flow state. Mr. Bentham was very clear that, for objectivity, team members shouldn’t know when they are being evaluated by “the all-seeing, hundred-eyed giant.”
- aries1980 9y ago
  > Will I be able to see you in Nest, watching me work? > No. Nest will be coated in one-way mirrored glass. With polarised filters you can see through such glasses. How do you make it polarfilter-proof?
kybernetikos 9y ago
Bentham didn't want the people in the outside structure to ever know whether they were being observed or not at any particular time, this was a key part of the way it was supposed to work, so the people in the tower cannot be seen by the people in the cells.

otakucode 9y ago

That is what I was thinking. The quietness and difficulty of distraction alone would be a monumental improvement. Overall, of course, I think it is a recipe for disaster, but simply going down a checklist of various factors, at least the panopticon model would avoid many of the situations open floor plan offices promote that are a cancer to any business where mental work is important. Our existing office plans were optimized for repetitive clerical work and manufacturing-driven work. That mental work requires a different office environment really shouldn't surprise anyone, and since there are 1000+ studies now showing how badly open floor plans destroy productivity, it's becoming a real test of how much do companies value the superstitions of the managers over actual profit.