Searching for a "rational" workplace, turn-of-the-century engineers and
industrial architects recast the factory itself in the image of the
machine. Indeed, they considered the factory building the "master
machine," containing and coordinating all of the machinery within. Such
rational factory planning improved production speed and the management
of workers. Once created, the rational factory transformed the nature of
work, both human and mechanical.
In The Rational Factory, Lindy Biggs contends that factory design
played a crucial role in the development of American mass production.
Her interdisciplinary study draws from the fields of business history,
engineering, technology, architecture, and theories of modernity. Why
did some people want to rationalize the factory, she asks, and how did
the system impact those who worked under it?