Heterotopias and the History of Spaces

In this essay Georges Teyssot explores Michel Foucault’s notion of heterotopia as applied to architecture and its implications in terms of language, governance, and space. This analytical approach marked a significant shift in the late 1970s, redirecting attention to the history of housing and domestic space—topics not extensively covered in mainstream historiographical works until then. Originally published in Il dispositivo Foucault (1977), the essay is part of the proceedings of a seminar on Foucault’s work organized by Teyssot together with the two Italian philosophers Franco Rella and Massimo Cacciari. Teyssot’s essay was translated by Marson Korbi.