Heterotopia (space)

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Heterotopia (from Greek ἕτερος, héteros 'different, other, distinct' and Greek τόπος, tópos 'place') is a concept elaborated by the philosopher Michel Foucault to describe certain cultural, institutional and discursive spaces that are somehow "other": disturbing, intense, incompatible, contradictory or transforming. Heterotopias are "worlds within worlds": both similar to their surroundings, and contrasting with or upsetting them. Foucault provides examples: ships, cemeteries, bars, brothels, prisons, gardens of antiquity, fairs, Muslim baths and many more. Foucault outlines the notion of heterotopia on three occasions between 1966 and 1967. A lecture given by Foucault to a group of architects in 1967 is the most well-known explanation of the term. His first mention of the concept is in his preface to The Order of Things, and refers to texts rather than socio-cultural spaces.

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