In the Second Industrial Revolution, the service sector starts growing significantly. At the end of the 19th century, the number of employees in banking, trade, industry, and insurance increases. The rationalization of these enterprises creates a specialized and at the same time universal space that becomes the operative heart of both private business and public administration: in the office, machines, furniture, and people come together – form and function unite. The contributions to this volume show the office as a space of rationalization and of the imaginary, which is considered »life's actual center of gravity« (Walter Benjamin), the center of administrative and social life.
