This conference will explore the material implications of bureaucratic measures, arguing that they have had a significant impact on architectural practice and urban form since the late nineteenth century. This conference aims to incorporate bureaucracy into architectural theory and history discourses as an indispensable and powerful element in the construction process.

The term “bureaucracy” refers to the organisation of people and processes, as well as paperwork. Bureaucracy is often used as a synonym for inefficiency and disinterest, and is described as the “fifth form of rule by irresponsible officials who are not at risk” (Männle, 2023). However, it can also indicate high efficiency, control and power (Blau & Meyer, 1971). With the advent of the modern state, civil servants commissioned public architecture and urban plans by setting rules and regulations. Although bureaucrats and bureaucracies may perceive their agenda as neutral, its actual impact can be both constructive and destructive. Although bureaucracy is an inevitable part of the development of the built environment, it is not a common denominator in modern architecture.

Philipp Männle has already asked the question: “To what extent does architecture require a functioning administration, and where is bureaucracy necessary or useful?” The conference aims to find answers and trace arguments that demonstrate the importance of bureaucracy in the realisation of architecture throughout the long 20th century.

This event is part of the FWF project I 6241-G and the GAČR project 23-42260L “Invisible Agents”.

Organizer: Institute for Habsburg and Balkan Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences.