Article ID: CBB134939420

Walking Instead of Working: Space Allocation, Automatic Architecture, and the Abstraction of Hospital Labor (April-June 2021)

unapi

Vardouli, Theodora (Author)
Theodore, David (Author)


IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
Volume: 43
Issue: 2
Pages: 6-17


Publication Date: April-June 2021
Edition Details: Theme Article: Computing and Capitalism
Language: English

“Space allocation” was a central pursuit in postwar research on computing and architecture. Researchers sought an algorithm that could automatically design the most efficient floor plan for a set of activities. In this article, we connect an early algorithm for computing architectural floor plans to the postwar British hospital. We examine how researchers adapted algorithmic methods for floor layout design developed in industrial capitalist settings to the promotion of the British welfare state. Finally, we pay special attention to the agency that certain graphic inscriptions borrowed from mathematics had in validating these particular algorithmic methods as promising avenues for the algorithmic automation of all architectural work. This article situates the automation of hospital design in postwar U.K. at the intersection of building science and healthcare management, with the aim to contribute critical perspectives on algorithmic reifications of work in early computer-aided architectural design systems.

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Associated with

Article Kira Lussier (April-June 2021) From Papers to Programs: Courts, Corporations, Clinics, and the Battle Over Computerized Psychological Testing. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing (pp. 30-41). unapi

Article Janet Toland (April-June 2021) Consortium Computing and Time Slicing in the Banking Sector: Databank Systems Ltd New Zealand. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing (pp. 18-29). unapi

Article Devin Kennedy; Gerardo Con Diaz (April-June 2021) Computing Capitalisms—Part 2. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing (pp. 5-5). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB134939420/

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Authors & Contributors
Neil Urquhart
Guy C. Fedorkow
The Anh Han
Jones, Meg Lata
Lussier, Kira
Terry Payne
Concepts
Computers and computing
History of Computing
Automation
Algorithms
Artificial intelligence
Software
Time Periods
20th century
21st century
19th century
Places
United States
Great Britain
New Zealand
Germany
Taiwan
Institutions
United States. National Security Agency
National Health Service (Great Britain)
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