Space & Liberty

This interview with Foucault discusses the relationship between architectural space and personal freedom. Naturally, this relationship is not black and white. He discusses that it is not design which ensures freedom, but rather the practice of freedom which perpetuates liberty. According to Foucault, there is no system/design/etc. whose nature is absolutely liberating. The system may permit freedom, but it does not perpetuate it. It is the responsibility of man to engage in practices of liberty. The system may attempt to perpetuate liberty, but this is only possible through the existence and practices of its inhabitants. The system itself cannot fundamentally perpetuate freedom, as it is reliant upon the "reciprocal relations" between the system and its inhabitants. 

I find this idea very characteristic of modern thought, as it directs focus toward the individual. It looks not at the authority of the system or at its command over personal freedom, but rather at the individual whose role it is to practice liberty within that system. Foucault claims that the architect is not necessarily part of the power system, as it is dependent upon man. He also mentions that man has the ability to contort the intentional design of the architect, a point which I find very interesting, as it reflects very existential themes. Foucault perceives the individual as essential to the system, and even capable of altering their reality.