Recently I read Foucault’s essay  ‘Of Other Spaces’ which looks at the way that we react to spaces and how they are constructed to fit within the ideologies of society especially within the human environment. The essay deals with the histories of the spaces and how they have changed from the mediaeval to exist within a  contemporary context with technology influencing the spaces which are transferred into ‘sites’. Foucault explores spaces which society have both constructed and based themselves around as well as the importance and high regard traditionally of spaces such as gardens and cemeteries, as well as others such as museums, libraries and funnily enough, trains. Foucault looks at the difference between internal and external spaces, and the utopian and its dichotomy which Foucault describes as hetrotopology, which is defined by Foucault as ‘a sort of simultaneous mythic and real contestation of the space in which we live’[1]…. Foucault goes on to explain that,  ‘It is necessary to notice that the space which today appears to form the horizon of our concerns, our theory, our systems, in not an innovation; space itself has a history of western experience and it is not possible to disregard the fatal intersection of time and space[2]’.

I loved it,  its interesting to take a deeper look into space which is generally something that we exist within without much more thought. I’ve included a link to the full text here if you want to have a read – Essay

AL