Throughout the twentieth century, office buildings became central to the organisation of modern societies – yet what went on inside them has remained remarkably understudied. Behind Office Doors explores this history by focusing on users and everyday practices. It examines how office spaces were conceived by architects, designers and managers, and how they were inhabited, experienced and sometimes contested by workers. From filing cabinets and air-conditioning to EU offices and colonial bureaucracies, the chapters trace how design, technology and organisational thinking shaped office life. Alongside new case studies on Europe, Asia and colonial Africa, the contributing authors reflect on how the office has been approached in historiography. Drawing on cross-disciplinary research, this book challenges the assumption that the office is too familiar to analyse – offering instead a fresh perspective on the architecture and politics of work.

Throughout the twentieth century, office buildings became central to the organisation of societies – yet what went on inside them has remained remarkably understudied. Behind Office Doors explores this history by focusing on users and everyday practices. It examines how office spaces were conceived by architects, designers and managers, and how they were inhabited, experienced and contested by workers. From filing cabinets and air conditioning to EU offices and colonial bureaucracies, the chapters trace how design, technology and organisational thinking shaped office life. Alongside case studies on Europe, North America, Asia and colonial Africa, the contributions reflect on how the office has been approached in historiography. Drawing on cross-disciplinary research, this book argues for the development of historical office studies, showing how the design and management of offices have shaped cultures of work.

Jens van de Maele is a postdoctoral member of the research group Modernity and Society 1800–2000 at KU Leuven.

This book invites us to move away from linear narratives based on an analysis of the architectural canon and from a reductionist vision of the dynamics of power and control that have often marked the historiography of the office. – Gianenrico Bernasconi, Université de Neuchâtel

*Behind Office Doors brings welcome attention to the often-overlooked inhabitants of architectural history: users. The collection offers varied perspectives that together illuminate the rich terrain between architectural intention and practical adaptation, which defined twentieth-century professional life.* – Joseph L. Clarke, University of Toronto

A transdisciplinary history of the 20th-century office, exploring how its spatial forms, technological systems and managerial ideologies were constructed, challenged and lived with.

Throughout the twentieth century, office buildings became central to the organisation of societies – yet what went on inside them has remained remarkably understudied. Behind Office Doors explores this history by focusing on users and everyday practices. It examines how office spaces were conceived by architects, designers and managers, and how they were inhabited, experienced and contested by workers. From filing cabinets and air conditioning to EU offices and colonial bureaucracies, the chapters trace how design, technology and organisational thinking shaped office life. Alongside case studies on Europe, North America, Asia and colonial Africa, the contributions reflect on how the office has been approached in historiography. Drawing on cross-disciplinary research, this book argues for the development of historical office studies, showing how the design and management of offices have shaped cultures of work.

Jens van de Maele is a postdoctoral member of the research group Modernity and Society 1800–2000 at KU Leuven.

This book invites us to move away from linear narratives based on an analysis of the architectural canon and from a reductionist vision of the dynamics of power and control that have often marked the historiography of the office. – Gianenrico Bernasconi, Université de Neuchâtel

*Behind Office Doors brings welcome attention to the often-overlooked inhabitants of architectural history: users. The collection offers varied perspectives that together illuminate the rich terrain between architectural intention and practical adaptation, which defined twentieth-century professional life.* – Joseph L. Clarke, University of Toronto