Abstract
Autumn 1924. The German architect Erich Mendelsohn is on a study trip through the north-eastern United States of America. A visit to the administrative building of the Larkin Company in Buffalo, completed in 1906 under the direction of the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, is ‘a great experience’ for the German architect.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This contribution contains results from my dissertation project ‘The Knowledge Architecture of the Modern Office: An Approximation to Frank Lloyd’Wright’s Larkin Administration Building’. Some of these findings have already been published in other papers: (Schnaithmann, 2012, 2013a, b, 2015, 2019). In the interest of better readability, I have generally refrained from referring to these texts in detail.
References
Adams-Webber, M. (1997). Soap Slingers, Drummers and Agents: Larkin Company Merchandising 1875–1885. In Marketing History Knows No Bounds. Proceedings of the 8th Conference on Historical Research in Marketing and Marketing Thought (pp. 123–132).
Alexander, J. K. (2008). The mantra of efficiency: From waterwheel to social control. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Anonymous. (1900). Office manual. Buffalo, edited by the Larkin Company, NY: J.W. Clement. C11-03, Box 2.17, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Archives.
Anonymous. (1903). Office items. Ourselves, 1(13), 3, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Archives.
Anonymous. (1907). The inscriptions on the court of the administration building. The Larkin Idea, 7(3), 1–2, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Archives.
Anonymous. (1909). Filling a Larkin Order. The Larkin Family Magazine, January 1909, 7th Vertical File, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Archives.
Anonymous. (1927). Trip Thru Larkin Plant, typed script of 25 May 1927, C85-1, Box 5, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Archives.
Beniger, J. R. (1986). The control revolution: Technological and economic origins of the information society. Harvard University Press.
Böhme, H. (1998). Das Büro als Welt – Die Welt im Büro. In H. Lachmeyer & E. Louis (Eds.), Work & culture. Büro. Inszenierung von Arbeit (pp. 95–103). Ritter Verlag.
Bradley, D. A. (2004). Dimensions vary: Technology, space and power in the 20th century office. TOPIA, 11, 67–82.
Brandes, S. D. (1974). American welfare capitalism. University of Chicago Press.
Braverman, H. (1998 [1974]). Labor and monopoly capital. Monthly Review Press.
Chandler, A. D. (1993 [1962]). Strategy and structure: Chapters in the history of the American enterprise. MIT Press.
Chandler, A. D. (1977). The visible hand: The managerial revolution in business. Belknap Press.
de Certeau, M. (1988 [1980]). Kunst des Handelns. MERVE.
Duffy, F. (1980). Office buildings and organisational change. In F. Duffy (Ed.), Buildings and society: Essays on the social development of the built environment (pp. 255–280). Routledge.
Etzemüller, T. (2009). Social engineering als Verhaltenslehre des kühlen Kopfes. In T. Etzemüller (Ed.), Die Ordnung der Moderne. Social Engineering im 20. Jahrhundert (pp. 11–39). transcript.
Foucault, M. (1994a [1975]). Überwachen und Strafen. Die Geburt des Gefängnisses. Suhrkamp.
Foucault, M. (1994b [1982]). Subjekt und Macht. In D. Defert & F. Ewald (Eds.), Analytik der Macht (pp. 240–263). Suhrkamp.
Fritz, H. J. (1982). Menschen in Büroarbeitsräumen. Über langfristige Strukturwandlungen büroräumlicher Arbeitsbedingungen mit einem Vergleich von Klein- und Großraumbüros. Heinz Moos Verlag.
Galloway, L. (1919). Office management: Its principles and practice. The Ronald Press Company.
Gardey, D. (2008). Écrire, calculer, classer. Comment une révolution de papier a transformé les sociétés contemporaines (1800–1940). La Découverte.
Giedion, S. (2013 [1948]). Mechanization takes command: A contribution to anonymous history. University of Minnesota Press.
Gilbreth, F. B., & Gilbreth, L. M. (1916). The effect of motion study upon the workers. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 65, 272–276.
Gilbreth, F. B., & Gilbreth, L. M. (1921). Process charts: First steps in finding the one best way to do work. Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 43(1818), 1029–1050.
Griffith, J. B. (1910). Correspondence and filing. In The American Technical Society (Ed.), Cyclopedia of commerce, accountancy, business administration (Vol. 1, pp. 231–285). American School of Correspondence.
Gropius, W. (1987 [1911]). Monumentale Kunst und Industriebau. In H. Probst & C. Schädlich (Eds.), Walter Gropius. Ausgewählte Schriften (Vol. 3). VEB Verlag für Bauwesen.
Harland, M. (1913). My trip Thru the Larkin factories. Larkin Company.
Heath, W. R. (2014). Memorandum to John D. Larkin, 9 May 1914, C 85-1, Box 41/1, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Archives.
Hoof, F. (2015). Engel der Effizienz. Eine Mediengeschichte der Unternehmensberatung. Konstanz University Press.
Hubbard, E. (1914). A little journey to Buffalo. The Roycrofters.
Latour, B. (1990). Drawing things together. In M. Lynch & S. Woolgar (Eds.), Representation in scientific practice (pp. 19–68). MIT Press.
Latour, B. (1999). Circulating reference. Sampling the soil in the Amazonas forest. In Pandora’s hope. Essays on the reality of science studies (pp. 24–79). Harvard University Press.
Leffingwell, W. H. (1927 [1925]). Office management: Principles and practices. (3rd ed). A.W. Shaw Co.
Lipman, J. (2005 [1991]). Consecrated space: Wright’s public buildings. In R. McCarter (Ed.), On and by Frank Lloyd Wright: A primer on architectural principles (pp. 264–285). Princeton Architectural Press.
Litterer, J. A. (1986 [1959]). The emergence of systematic management as shown by the literature of management from 1870–1900. Garland.
Lowe, G. S. (1987). Women in the administrative revolution: The feminization of clerical work. Polity Press.
Martin, D. D. (1925). Fifty golden years. J.W. Clement, University of Buffalo Archives.
Marx, K. (1998 [1890]). Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie. In K. Marx & F. Engels (Eds.), Werke (Vol. 23). Dietz.
Mendelsohn, E. (2000 [1919]). Die neue Zeit, VIII. Vortrag im Salon von Molly Philippson, 1919. In E. Mendelsohn, I. Heinze-Greenberg, & R. Stephan (Eds.), Gedankenwelten. Unbekannte Texte zu Architektur, Kulturgeschichte und Politik (pp. 38–44). Hatje Cantz.
Mendelsohn, E. (1991a [1926]). Amerika. Bilderbuch eines Architekten, mit 77 photographischen Aufnahmen des Verfassers, Nachdruck. Rudolf Mosse Buchverlag.
Mendelsohn, E. (1991b). Briefe eines Architekten. In O. Beyer (Ed.). Birkhäuser.
Mills, C. W. (1953 [1951]). White collar: The American middle classes. Oxford University Press.
Mumford, L. (1938). The culture of cities. Secker & Warburg.
Noble, D. (1977). America by design: Science, technology, and the rise of corporate capitalism. Oxford University Press.
Pai, H. (2002). The portfolio and the diagram: Architecture, discourse, and modernity in America. MA MIT Press.
Prinz, S. (2012). Büros zwischen Disziplin und Design. Postfordistische Ästhetisierungen der Arbeitswelt. In S. Moebius & S. Prinz (Eds.), Das Design der Gesellschaft. Zur Kultursoziologie des Designs (pp. 245–271). transcript.
Puffer, H. E. (1914). Memorandum to W.N. Whitney, 11 March 1914, C 85-1 Box 41/1, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Archives.
Quinan, J. (2006 [1987]). Frank Lloyd wright’s Larkin building: Myth and fact. University of Chicago Press.
Rabinbach, A. (1990). The human motor: Energy, fatigue, and the origins of modernity. University of California Press.
Rotella, E. J. (1981). The transformation of the American Office: changes in employment and technology. Journal of Economic History, 41(1), 51–57.
Schnaithmann, C. (2012). Das Schreibtischproblem. Amerikanische Büroorganisation um 1920. In L. Bluma & K. Uhl (Eds.), Kontrollierte Arbeit – disziplinierte Körper? Zur Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte der Industriearbeit im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (pp. 323–357). transcript.
Schnaithmann, C. (2013a). Factory-to-family. Synchronisation im Produktmarketing der Larkin Soap Manufacturing Company, 1890–1941. In T. Macho & C. Kassung (Eds.), Kulturtechniken der Synchronisation (pp. 101–128). Fink.
Schnaithmann, C. (2013b). Fifty ways to cut expenses. Praktiken der Effizienzsteigerung in amerikanischen Managementhandbüchern, 1910–1920. In ilinx. Berliner Beiträge zur Kulturwissenschaft 3 (Ökonomische Praktiken) (pp. 39–57).
Schnaithmann, C. (2015). Der Weg einer Bestellung. Schriftstücke im Büro um 1900. In R. Wöhrer (Ed.), Wie Bilder Dokumente wurden. Zur Genealogie dokumentarischer Darstellungspraktiken (pp. 249–266). Kadmos.
Schnaithmann, C. (2019). Maschine, Kirche, Organismus. Die Gestaltung von Büroarbeit in Wrights Larkin Administration Building. In G. Bernasconi & S. Nellen (Eds.), Büro. Zur Rationalisierung des Interieurs, 1880–1960 (pp. 69–88). transcript.
Sivulka, J. (2001). Stronger than dirt: A cultural history of advertising personal hygiene in America, 1875 to 1940. Humanity Books.
Smith, A. (1922 [1776]). An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. Methuen.
Stanger, H. R. (2000). From factory to family: The creation of a corporate culture. The Business History Review, 74(3), 407–433.
Stanger, H. R. (2005). Welfare capitalism in the Larkin Company, 1900–1925. New York History, 86(2), 211–258.
Stanger, H. R. (2008). The Larkin clubs of ten: Consumer buying clubs and mail-order commerce, 1890–1940. Enterprise & Society, 9(1), 125–164.
Taylor, F. W. (1913 [1911]). The principles of scientific management. Harper & Brothers.
Tone, A. (1997). The business of benevolence: Industrial paternalism in progressive America. Cornell University Press.
Twitmyer, G. E. (1907). A model administration building. The Business Man’s Magazine, 19, 43–49.
Uhl, K. (2014). Humane Rationalisierung? Die Raumordnung der Fabrik im fordistischen Jahrhundert. transcript.
Vismann, C. (2000). Akten. Medientechnik und Recht. Fischer.
Weber, M. (1976 [1922]). Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Grundriss einer verstehenden Soziologie (5th ed). Mohr.
Whitney, W. N. (1914). Memorandum to William R. Heath, 26 February 1914, C 85-1 Box 41/1, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Archives.
Wright, F. L. (1975). In the cause of architecture: The logic of the plan. In F. Gutheim (Ed.), In the cause of architecture: Essays by Frank Lloyd Wright for architectural record, 1908–1952 (pp. 153–161). Architectural Record.
Yates, J. (1993 [1989]). Control through communication: The rise of system in American management. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schnaithmann, C. (2023). ‘Harmony, Not Discord’: Cooperation in the Office of the Larkin Company Around 1900. In: Gießmann, S., Röhl, T., Trischler, R., Zillinger, M. (eds) Materiality of Cooperation. Medien der Kooperation – Media of Cooperation. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-39468-4_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-39468-4_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden
Print ISBN: 978-3-658-39467-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-658-39468-4
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)