Entries: Panopticon Garden

ENTRANT
Anna Gibb
www2.rgu.ac.uk/sss/edinburgh/ANNA_GIBB.html

EXPLANATION OF IDEA

There has been a parliament in Westminster since approx. 1000BC. The site was originally on an island, called "Thorney Island", which was formed by two branches of the river Tyburn and the Thames. The river was later covered over and now forms an underground sewer.

Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament have always sat at the heart of Westminster. The surrounding area is rich in green parks and gardens. Right at the centre, to the south of Westminster Abbey, is the oldest garden in England, College Garden. In the 1593 map, we can see the buildings which were the predecessors to the current Palace of Westminster [19th Century], and adjacent to this is a riverfront garden. In the 1775 map, this garden area has been built upon extensively and rather densely. This is continually shown until the 1897 map which shows that a new garden has been created, adjacent to Pugin's new parliament. Nowadays, this whole slither of land belongs to the Victoria Tower gardens.

As the land has now been reclaimed to its original purpose of a garden, and in our current economy of environmental consciousness, it it only right that this land is put to use. How can the MPs "dig themselves" out of their situation and regain trust from society? Why, by tending to this land and growing produce to sell locally to the masses.

The garden will house new accommodation for the MPs. This housing, without hierarchy, will be environmentally and economically sustainable. Maps from the 19th century show a prison just to the south of the site, namely Millbank Penitentiary. This prison was built on the model of a "panopticon." Whereby, the guard would be located in a tower in the middle of the plan and the prisoners around around the edge. This meant that the guard could keep an eye on everyone at once, and that te prisoners felt as though they were constantly being watched. This prison only lasted a century before it was demolished, but could be seen as an appropriate model to use in this situation.

The new accommodation towers for the MPs will be arranged in the garden around a central tower. This will house the MP's with the greatest authority and members of the Treasury, thereby keeping a watchful eye over those tempted to stray and perhaps built a rather extravagant balcony to his/ her otherwise generic apartment. These towers will be constructed of used shipping containers, a by product of industry but a fantastically sustainable and inexpensive means of building.

The location of the new accommodation also acts as a panopticon in a wider sense. This central core of MP's will be watched over by many different members of society, adding an entirely new dimension to the London Eye experience.