Geometries of power

The circle and the square are archetypal forms of city layouts. The various patterns and combinations of these forms also reflect on inherent power relations within the social network. I start this paper with the exploration of a peculiar example of the circular layout, the fortified city of Palmanova which, in many ways, epitomizes Renaissance conceptions of ideal city planning. With the help of Michel Foucault’s Panopticon-theory, as well as Kevin Lynch’s principles on legible urban form. I trace implications of the geometric patterns of Palmanova and compare the “perfection” of its forms to plans of “ideal cities” in America. From the Puritan settlements of New England that combine circular and grid based structures I move on to explore manifestations of the Roman and the Greek-inspired grids and attempt to apply Foucault’s formulae of surveillance so as to gain insight into the power-mechanisms involved in the various layouts

Archaeology · Architectural engineering · Art history · Epistemology · Geometry · Grid · Human settlement · Ideal (ethics) · Michel foucault · Panopticon · Perfection · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Sociology · The Renaissance · TRACE (psycholinguistics) · Computer Science · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Engineering · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · History · Law · Mathematics · Philippine History and Culture · Philosophy