Summary of Foucault, Michel, Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias

Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias

Michel Foucault is a French philosopher, born to a upper-middle-class family in west-central France in a city called Poitiers who has inspired Activists and well as academics through his ideas.

He was involved in the structuralism methodology which was displayed in several of his early publications such as ‘The Order of Things’, Foucault later distanced himself from the structuralism methodology although he speaks about it in this publication.

Michel Foucault in his text ‘Of other spaces’ which was published by the French ‘journal Architecture /Mouvement/ Continuité in October 1984’ speaks about utopia and heterotopia, this text was taken from a lecture he gave in March 1967. He focuses on Heterotopia and breaks it down to having six main principles.

The text starts with an introduction to the world we live in and how history was the focus fascination of the 19th century, and how this era is an era of space and an era where two things are being seen or placed close together with contrasting effects or Juxtaposition. He explains that “Structuralism is the effort to establish between elements that could have been connected on a temporal axis”[1], which relates to the idea of a group of relations that influences them to show up as

‘Juxtaposition’ and the way the middle ages laid out spaces in a hierarchy

Foucault then talks about Heterotopias and Utopias and explains that the difference between heterotopias and Utopias is that the latter one is basically a site with no real place while Heterotopias are places that can be real in a different way places outside of all places as it is dissimilar to all other places. He says “I believe that between utopias and these quite other sites, these heterotopias, there might be a sort of mixed, joint experience, which would be the mirror”[2] and gives the example of seeing himself in a mirror where he can see the place but he can’t physically go there.

He goes on to explain that the six principles of Heterotopia and the first principle is that almost most cultures have established a Heterotopia such as sacred places, although nowadays they are disappearing and being replaced by “Heterotopias if Deviation”, such as prisons, care homes and hospitals.

The second principle is that societies can make existing heterotopias work in a very different way, such as cemeteries and how it was always in the heart of the city next homes and churches as people saw that the soul departed but the body is still there and now they see death as a disease, moving cemeteries to the outskirts of the cities or towns.

The third principle is the can put contrasting places in the same spaces, such as theatres and how the stage can change to different spaces and different scenes can be completely different and unreal.

The fourth principle he explains is how it is frequently related to a period of time and how it begins to function when People break down with their traditional time and how there are heterotopias of forever gathering time such as libraries and museums. Where contrary to these utopias that are linked to the flowing of time such as festivals and fun fairgrounds, or vacation villages.

The fifth principle is that they always have a method of opening and closing that both isolates them and make them accessible such as entering a barracks or a prison.

Finally, the sixth principle is that they serve the illusion of a real space or create a space other than real space and he gives examples of brothels and a perfect colony such as the Puritan society or the Jesuit colonies.

[1] Foucault, Michel, Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias, Architecture /Mouvement/ Continuité

October, 1984, p2

[2] Foucault, Michel, Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias, Architecture /Mouvement/ Continuité

October, 1984, P4