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The State of Freedom: An Investigation Into the Contemporary State of Panoptic Observation and Its Associated Impact on Societal Freedom

Part 2 Dissertation 2019
Ben Price
Nottingham Trent University | UK
The topic of this dissertation discusses the connections and impacts between technology and society; specifically investigating the underlying implementation, intentional or otherwise, of psychological control and obedience. Furthermore, this theme inherently contains the parallel conversation of societal safety, both physically and psychologically; as well as the extent to which architecture may improve or restrict this.

Using an auto-ethnographical study, multiple sets of personal data have been downloaded from commonly used services and companies to examine the extent to which our lives are being observed. This extends beyond the conventionally considered governmental panoptic presence to investigate the rising acceptance of social media data collection. The ensuing analysis explores the depth to which we are willingly providing information on our lives and the psychological impacts which this brings with it.

The study subsequently cross references the collected information in relation to the built environment, seeking to understand the relationship between the potentially misunderstood passive nature of data and the physical realm which it is becoming an active part of. This further extends into the shifting definition of architectural roles and responsibilities to consider the future of the wider profession, as well as its position within the advancing digital age.

Ben Price

Tutor(s)
Manuel Angel
Ana Souto
2019
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