Exploring organizational architecture and space

8/3/2019 Exploring organizational architecture and space

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Exploring organizational architecture and space: a case for heterodox research

Forthcoming inInternational Journal of Organizational Analysis

Tuomo Peltonen

Department of Industrial Management,

Tampere University of Technology, Finland

P.O. Box 541, 33101 Tampere, FINLAND

email: [email protected]

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance the methodological self-understanding of theemerging field of organizational space and architecture by employing concepts and frameworks from

multiparadigm and mixed methods research.

Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents a methodological re-reading of a recent research

process that analyzed the spatial and architectural dynamics in a Finnish university organization.

Findings While the analysis of architectural meanings are often grounded in researcher-participants

autoethnographic experiences, triangulating personal insights with other methods is important for the

validity and richness of the subsequent description of spatial dynamics and its outcomes. Especially theincorporation of architectural visions and representations into the analysis is argued to enhance our

understanding of the emergence of particular social-material collectives.

Originality/value Although there is a steady stream of empirical studies on the meanings oforganizational space and architecture, rigorous accounts of the methodological challenges of spatial

analyses have so far been scarce. This paper aims to partially fill this gap.

Keywords: Architecture, Space, Organizations, Multiparadigm research, Methodology

Paper type: Research paper


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Introduction

The organizational study of space and architecture has advanced rapidly during the past few years. In

addition to numerous individual contributions (e.g. Clegg and Kornberger, 2006; Hernes, 2004; Dale &

Burrell, 2008; Taylor and Spicer, 2007), two recent special issues (Culture and Organization, 2011 and

Journal of Organizational Change Management, 2011) have been devoted to the topic. Taking its inspi-

ration from fields such as aesthetics (Linstead & Hpfl, 2000), symbolism (Gagliardi, 1990; Berg &

Kreiner, 1990) and poststructuralism (Foucault, 1979; Fallan, 2008), research into organizational space

has opened new avenues to conceptualize organizations as embedded in and performed through built

environments and architectural settings. Previous studies have examined the design and consumption of

organizational spaces in diverse situations and contexts, including planned change (van Marrewijk,

2009; Dale, 2005), introduction of innovative work facilities (Warren, 2008; Halford, 2004), and spatial

articulations of the fashionable (Taylor and Spicer, 2007; Kornberger and Clegg, 2004) as well as more

unconventional organizational forms (Watkins, 2005; Knigma, 2008; Yanow 1995).

As a study of how material objects and artifacts take part in the creation of social forms in interaction

with human action and symbolization (Warren, 2008), spatial research is inclined to orient itself

towards multiple methods. Studying architecture using theories such as Lefbvres (1991) scheme on

the production of space or variants of actor-network theory (Gieryn, 2002; Fallan, 2008) calls for the

use of multiple perspectives to make sense of the physical, practical and cultural dimensions of space.

Formation of organizational space is understood in these as a process of interaction between the human

and non-human elements in the emerging socio-spatial systems. For example the use of Lefbvres

(1991) framework of three dimensions of space (conceived, planned, lived) (cf. Taylor and Spicer,

2007; Watkins, 2005; Knigma, 2008) could be argued to lead quite naturally to multiple sources and

interpretations of empirical data. The idea according to which the three dimensions of space work

together to build a distinct socio-spatial environment, as Lefbvre (1991) suggests in his original thesis,

also points to the direction of understanding methodical multiplicity underpinning most spatial research

as a strategy aiming at a unified understanding of the spatial phenomenon. For example Knigma (2008)

exemplifies this in his study of Dutch casinos that employed a three-dimensional perspective on space

to demonstrate how a gambling locale was constructed and enacted as a place for normalized


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entertainment. In other words, multiple methods and social theory paradigms serve to achieve a holistic

understanding of the meaning of space in organizational structuring through the interplay of different

styles of investigation.

However, despite the growing body of theoretical and empirical contributions, the field seldom engages

with rigorous methodological self-reflection. The research process is hardly ever described in detail,

despite the centrality of reporting the actual interpretative operations to the credibility of qualitative

research (Silverman, 2006). Dale (2005, p. 664), for example, recounts how she observed the chang-

ing material conditions unfolding over a period of eight months of informal contact with this company

in a number of guises. In a recent empirical contribution, van Marrewijk (2009, p. 295), in turn, de-

scribes his involvement as an employee, researcher and consultant in the case organization, but does

not extend the methodological description beyond noting that data from the previous study has been

transcribed and now used again to analyze spatial settings, along with desk research on the build-

ings. Methodological minimalism or crypticism seems to be the norm.

A rare exception can be found from Warrens (2008) work that focused on aesthetic meanings of office

dcor within a department of a multinational company. Warren explicates and discusses her experienc-

es of doing field work, especially from the perspective of using different methods at different stages of

the research process. She, like the students of architectural space, was confronted with the challenge of

how to investigate the meaning of basically ineffable organizational artifacts and material designs using

conventional qualitative methods that rely on the use of language (cf. Yanow, 1995). Warrens solution

was to triangulate ethnographic insights with interviews and respondent-led photography to arrive at a

more sophisticated understanding of the aesthetic processes in the case unit. Her study started with eth-

nographic familiarizing with the material environment of the organization, followed by methods that

allowed the employees to provide their own experiences of the office architecture. Personal engage-

ment provided initial ideas about the relationship of human actors to the material objects, further deep-ened with the help of biographical interviews and photographs taken by the employees. The argument

is that limiting the study of organizational spaces to autoethnographic impressions leads to impoverish

understandings of the meaning of architecture, and that, instead, other parallel methods should be used

to enable a more comprehensive description of how aesthetic and spatial experiences are formed in

organizational life (Warren, 2008; 564; Halford, 2004). The use of multiple perspectives and methods


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within a single study may provide the needed methodological resource for spatial studies, and it is to

these themes we turn to next.

Multiparadigm and mixed methods research in organizational analysis

Ever since the publication of Sociological Paradigms and Organizational analysis by Gibson Burrell

and Gareth Morgan (1979), the field of organization studies has tried to come into terms with the con-

sequences of multiple social science approaches to the practice of organizational analysis. While the

early debate was predominantly concerned with the incommensurability thesis implicit in Burrells and

Morgans original presentation, the more recent work has acknowledged that some form of multi-

paradigm dialogue is possible within the plurality of approaches (Lewis and Grimes, 1999). Even the

notorious attack on emerging paradigmatic diversity by Pfeffer (1993) was incapable of reversing the

creation and institutionalization of new schools of thought within organizational analysis. Rather, his

piece, and the conversation that followed (Van Maanen, 1995a, 1995b; Pfeffer, 1995), seems to have

convinced the field about the apparent lack of solid arguments that could be animated to oppose and

halt the diversification of research efforts into new conceptual and methodological territories.

One implication of this acknowledgment is the development of ideas about strategies employing multi-

ple paradigmatic approaches within single studies (Gioia and Pitre, 1990; Morgan, 2006; Lewis and

Kelemen, 2002; Hassard and Kelemen, 2002; Schultz and Hatch, 1996). The so-called multi-paradigm

debate has produced a wealth of exemplars and ideas of how different paradigms work in connection to

each other in the course of the research process. In a review, Lewis and Grimes (1999) argue that most

multi-paradigm research has tended to follow either a parallel or a sequential strategy in their actual

design. Parallel studies focus on the rivalry of the paradigms by depicting the organizational voices,

images and interests magnified by opposing lens (Lewis and Grimes, 1999, p. 675). The purpose of

this kind of design is to produce many simultaneous shots of the phenomenon by using a number of

paradigmatic recorders or cameras. Hassards (1991) study of a case organization using four different

methods and data sets congruent with the four paradigms of Burrell and Morgan (1979) is an example

of a parallel study. In sequential studies, in turn, different paradigms are employed in varied stages of

the research process. This can be accomplished for example so that more realist or structural approach-

es are used to generate an overview of the phenomenon in an organizational context, followed by some


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form of ethnographic or interpretative analysis that focuses on subjective meanings and situated prac-

tices of actors, or, alternatively, so that qualitative sensitizing to the topic is followed by the use of sur-

vey instruments. A third available strategy is paradigm interplay, introduced by Schultz and Hatch

(1996). This position allows different approaches to interact more openly with each other in a recipro-

cal fashion. The purpose is to allow the researcher to move back and forth so that differences and simi-

larities between different perspectives to produce novel, nuanced description of the phenomenon.

Alongside the theoretical multiparadigm discussion, a related debate has emerged around so called

mixed methods research in social and organizational studies (Tashakkoriand and Teddlie, 2010; Currall

and Towler, 2003; Hurmerinta-Peltomki and Nummela, 2006). Here the emphasis is primarily on the

relations between qualitative and quantitative research, although as Bryman (2009, p. 516) suggests, a

mixed methods approach can also refer to studies where multiple methods are used within a quantita-

tive or a qualitative approach. According to Bryman and Bell (2011, p. 632), the main options in choos-

ing a multi-methods strategy concern priority and sequence in using different approaches. Qualitative

or quantitative stance can dominate in a study, or both can be used equally to inform research design

(Johnson, et al, 2007). Additionally, various approaches can be used in different temporal sequences,

depending on the theoretical ambitions and possible practical limitations of the study at hand. In trian-

gulation (Jick, 1979), an early form of multiple methods research, findings from an analysis using one

method are validated using several other approaches. Triangulation encourages a researcher to include

many different forms of analysis to the design of a single study in order to confirm the validity of in-

sights produced by the initial analysis (Webb, et al. 1966). More broadly understood, mixed methods

research means using different methods in a single study, depending on the research questions and

practical limitations. Overall, the rise of mixed methods research in business and management studies

is connected to the emerging shift away from the paradigmatic considerations of differences of ap-

proaches in terms of epistemology and ontology, towards an increasingly pragmatic or pragmatist -

interpretation of the relations between different social science approaches and traditions within the field

(Bryman and Bell, 2011; Morgan, 2007).

Multiparadigm or mixed methods strategies have not been explicitly discussed in the context of spatial

research problematics. The exemplary empirical analyses (Warren, 2008; Yanow, 1995; Halford, 2004)

as well as the emerging methodological reflections (e.g. van Marrewijk and Yanow, 2009; 7) suggest


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that the prime methodological vehicle in spatial research is some form of autoethnographic sensitizing

to the architectural features of the research site, complemented in most cases with interviews, photog-

raphy, document analysis or other predominantly qualitative methods. Yet the questions around the

primacy, sequence and mutual relations of various methods in the course of the research process the

key concern in multipardigm and multimethod discussions - have not so far been taken up in architec-

tural study. The purpose of this article is to provide a description of the practical unfolding of a project

on organizational spaces using the experiences from a recent study on Finnish university architecture

(Peltonen, 2011). As such, the intention is not to present formal methodological tools that would act as

textbook guides for spatial research (cf. Warren, 2008). Instead, I hope that reviewing the problems and

solutions of one particular field work project from a multimethod perspective might be of help to future

researchers as they cope with similar empirical challenges in their architectural analyses.

A Finnish study of university architecture and space

The study explored the architectural meanings at the University of Oulu in northern Finland. The

project started subtly in the form of personal participant observation while I was working in the Faculty

of Economics in the university. I joined the place as an outsider and was immediately stunned by the

complexity and massiveness of the campus (see Plate 1.). The Linnanmaa campus is located outside of

the city of Oulu, making up an autonomous urban space with departments, lecture halls, cafes,

administrative offices and even some student flats grouped under one roof. Getting to grips with the

University meant in practice learning how to orient oneself in the numerous corridors extending from

the central concourse to the numerous departmental wings. This personal immersion into the

architectural space and its relations to the shaping of organizational identity, culture and structure was

integral to the evolving understanding of the local spatial dynamics.


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Plate 1. Linnanmaa campus from air, with the old part in the middle.(c) Suomen Ilmakuva Oy.

The study became more systematic with the implementation of a series of user tours, which were in

practice walking tours along some of the conventional routes within the university. In these,

observations related to architecture, layout, furniture and dcor were documented using a mobile phone

camera. The intention of these tours was to make the initial observations more explicit by recording

selected spatial features with the help of the focused view of the camera (Pink, 2006). The purpose was

to guide my attention to the architectural designs and solutions that I felt were affecting my behaviors

and imaginations as an organizational user of the campus premises. Methodologically, reflecting on the

photos enabled me to take some distance from my taken-for-granted practices and perceptions, and to


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analyze the way I was apprehending the material-spatial surroundings of my everyday activities at

work.

Selected documents were also included in the early stages of analysis. These consisted of maps and

floor plans used by the university, available on the Internet pages of the organization (see Figure 1.), aswell as several articles and related texts published in various media such as the local newspaper and the

internal newsletter of the university Another form of secondary source was a recent study of the early

planning of the campus from the perspective of architectural ideas and aesthetic guidelines (Vuorinen,

2005). These materials highlighted the ways in which the campus was represented in plans and

administrative documents.


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Figure 1. The official map of the campus; the central passage is marked with the bold line.

The first phase of the analysis focused on the connections between the spatial and architectural

solutions and the social structures within the case organization. As the analysis proceeded to the second


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phase, new methods were employed to broaden the interpretations made in the first part. At this point,

reliance on participant observation and the accompanied user tours was found somewhat limited. There

was a need to enrich and contextualize the researcher-centered insights with material on the spatial

actions and symbolic framings of the employees and other groups to achieve a more balanced view on

the experiences and uses of campus as an organizational space. Simultaneously, the implicit

descriptions of the design principles affecting visible architectural features were scrutinized into a more

systematic analysis through consulting documents that specify the intentions of architects and other

professionals involved in the planning of the campus complex.

Four in-depth interviews with individuals occupying different positions in the occupational and

organizational structures of the university were made to test the validity of the initial findings that had

emerged from participant observation and user tours. Interviews confirmed aspects of the spatial

structures that were found earlier to be informing and reproducing social structures (boundaries,

hierarchies, division of labor), while they also opened new themes to consider, especially with regards

to the tensions between the everyday uses and meanings of architecture and the formal representations

and norms of workplace spaces in the university. Interviewees talked about creative uses of space that

departed from the representations and expectations of the administrative guides and maps. At the same

time, the central role of the so called old part and its spatial structures (the central concourse) and

distinctive dcor (1970s outlook with orange-green colors) in the formation of the social meanings

among the users was further highlighted through the interview accounts.

In another dimension, the external analysis of the architectural solutions and planning principles was

deepened with the help of archival data. University of Oulu was the first large-scale campus in Finland

built according to a rationalist planning paradigm where the spatial structures were integrally linked to

the ideas about administrative and disciplinary structures as well as forms of organizational activities

that were to take place within the buildings (Vuorinen, 2005). Oulu was an exemplary case of new

provincial state universities that were purposefully planned as total environments where architectural,

academic and social structures were thought to mutually support each other in the making of a modern

multi-disciplinary university. This meant also that the planning of the campus was opulently

documented in the architectural reports and articles of the time.

In the second stage, then, a number of documents about the campus building layouts, spatial plans and

design ideas were obtained and analyzed. These exhibits provided ample evidence about the mindsets


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and the assumptions of the architects and the other builders as the campus was constructed beginning

from the early 1970s and continuing all the way till the 2000s. In particular, the analysis of the

architectural documents paved the way toward a grounded understanding of the diversity of design

paradigms that characterizes the general outlook of the campus as a spatial arena. Architectural and

spatial principles have changed several times during the decades of planning and building. Ultimately,

these findings were validated and sharpened in an interview where the two main architects of the

complex narrated their version of the buildings from the professional experiences of being intimately

engaged with the erection of the university campus for nearly 40 years. As a result, three material-

social frames consisting of configurations of architectural theory, idea of space as an organizational

context and the image of the assumed user or users characterizing different parts of the campus were

articulated.

A multiparadigm reading of the research process

From the beginning, the research project employed multiple methods to be able to scrutinize various

aspects of spatial dynamics. Participant observation was complemented with the user tours focussing

on the aesthetic and symbolic meanings communicated in and though architectural features of the

buildings as well as with selected documents describing the original planning ideas and contemporary

representations of space. The initial research design already embraced the multiple aspects of space,

corresponding to a variety of methods and qualitative analyses appropriate to each dimension. Howev-

er, this early interplay was deepened in the second stage of the study. While the reliance on auto-

ethnographic data emphasized the generalized experiences of the researcher as a user, the second round

of analyses aimed to shift methodology towards materials illustrating other groups and voices within

the processes of space formation. Each new method deepened the description of the various dimensions

of space. The archival data on architectural plans enhanced the understanding of the design intentions

of the planners of the campus, most notably the architects. Additional material from the administrativeand promotional sources explicated the formal representations and mappings of space (Lefbvres

planned space). Interviews with selected users were employed to enrich the tentative observations and

insights from the user tours. They helped to clarify the ways in which different practices (conceived

space) and symbolic significations (lived space) contributed to the emergence of a distinct form of spa-

tial context.


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Taken together, the new methods employed in the second phase connected to the first stage by provid-

ing a broadened view on the various dimensions of spatial dynamics. At this point, the interplay of dif-

ferent perspectives on space began to crystallize into a more explicit outcome. The various aspects of

space formation seemed to feed into the emergence of the university as a multidisciplinary institution

with a strong sense of togetherness or identity. The central passageway of the old part of the campus

exemplified this version of the university organization. The passage was still affecting the constructions

of social structures through its distinctive spatial form. Analysis of spatial practices and subjective im-

ages also confirmed to a certain extent the critical role of the central passage and the associated images

about professional and academic plurality that was tempered by the shared passageway space. Some of

the design ambitions however proved to be somewhat too grandiose from the perspective of everyday

movements of the employees, as for example the reported use of shortcuts and the tendency to concen-

trate primarily on ones immediate office space indicated. The campus totality was narrowed down to

more concrete spatial settings in users perceptions.

Yet in many accounts and reflections, the main layout of the whole complex was assumed as the back-

ground structure that described the architectural idea of the dominant organizational form shaping the

social structures of the university. Administrative representations and mappings also seemed to tap into

the idea of the central passageway performing the role of the backbone of the campus that connects

the various departments and their individuals to each other in their daily walks. The passageway was

presented in the materials as the meeting point where different groups and individuals could get togeth-

er in a milieu supportive of spontaneous interaction. Unity in diversity characterizes relatively well

this spatial-social form to which the various dimensions of space were feeding in their own ways. Uni-

versity was enacting and performing its original communitarian ideals introduced in the 1960s (Vuo-

rinen, 2005) through the production of spatial forms emerging from the interplay of architectural, ad-

ministrative, social and symbolic processes.

Viewed from the multiparadigm framework, the approach employed several paradigmatic stances

resembling transition zones (Gioia & Pitre, 1990), areas enabling movement between different

methods. Approaching architecture from the actors meaning-making perspective signaled commitment

to the interpretative paradigm (Burrell & Morgan, 1979; Prasad, 2005; Hatch & Yanow, 2003)


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highlighting the situated significations and symbolic representations of space. Focusing on the

movements and practices ofoccupying the space, in turn, highlighted the primacy of user activities

embedded into identifiable routines, similar to the recent apprehensions of social practices as building

blocks of social order (e.g. Schatzki, 2001, 2006; Tuomela, 2002). The practice perspective shares

many of the assumptions of the interpretative paradigm, such as the tendency to favor qualitative field

work methods (Miettinen et al., 2009), but focuses more on the doings of organizational actors within

a broadly realist philosophy of science (Sayer, 2000).

These two approaches belong to the accepted approaches within organizational sociology, whereas the

third building block in the multi-paradigm interplay, architectural design, is relatively less known in the

conventional debates of organizational analysis. Studying the plans and representations of space moves

the focus towards the questions concerning the design of buildings and physical settings. Typically,

organizational design has belonged to the realm of functionalist organization theory, aiming to

formulate the most effective structural forms that are implemented using various managerial techniques

and top-down change programs (Hatch, 1997). Scholars operating in non-functionalist paradigms tend

to avoid blending managerialist design thinking with critical and intepretative approaches,

concentrating instead on processes and contradictions of organizing. Similarly, in spatial research

architectural plans and other physical and aesthetic designs are often viewed as managerialist forms of

control (Dale and Burrell, 2003; Warren, 2008). However, as Kornberger and Clegg (2004) remind,

architectural plans can also support community building and more spontaneous movements within

organizational spaces (cf. Cairns, 2002). Empirical analysis of architectural ideas is needed to evaluate

its actual role in the spatial structuring of organizational identities and behaviors.

In the Finnish study, examining architectural plans and accounts proved necessary for explicating the

design ideas and intentions inscribed into the existing buildings. The campus is a bricolage of different

architectural fashions. Analysis of original architectural articles and reports as well as secondary

literature examining the theories and ideologies affecting the designs revealed distinct configurations of

architectural style, user profile and assumptions about the organizational context. This multiplicity was

understood in the study as the first layer of design ideas and spatial representations that has projected a

distinct structural and ideological image to the material forms as they are used and lived. On the other

hand, this multiplicity was re-represented in the various attempts of the university administration to

provide an overarching mapping of the complex as a coherent spatial totality. There was some


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controversy between these two aspects, since although from an architectural point of view, the campus

was exceptional because it featured a variety of design principles and architectural styles, from the

perspective of administrative unity, the multiplicity of designs posed a problem for those wishing to

represent the campus complex as a physical manifestation of the university as a single unified actor.

Analyzing merely the representations and schemes accessible from the administrative documents and

maps would have led to a relatively one-sided understanding of the design intentions informing the

architectural solutions and meanings. Leaving original architectural plans out of the study would also

have impoverished the analysis of the interaction between the different aspects of spatial dynamics,

especially in terms of the examination of the relationships between user practices and interpretations,

and the background architectural and design ideas of the campus. The incorporation of design ideas

complemented the paradigmatic triad needed to accomplish a thicker description of the spatial

dynamics in the case organization.

Concluding comments

What I have argued in this paper is that in the research process operations, spatial researchers typically

start with some type of researcher-driven ethnographic work that focuses on the observational insights

emanating from the researcher immersing himself or herself into an architectural setting (Warren,

2008). While this tends to be followed in some cases by thematic interviews that aim to clarify the

interpretations of the employees, the majority of the previous studies into architecture and

organizations have so far ignored the potential to expand the methodical repertoire in the direction of

design ideas and architectural theories and solutions influencing the production and consumption of

material structures and shapes. Design is assumed to be connected to managerialist intervention and

control and as such is left empirically unexamined. However, as the Finnish case suggests, architectural

design can also be empowering or communal (cf. Kornberger and Clegg, 2004). University

architecture in the 1960s and 1970s was informed by the wider ideas about the importance of

collective interactional spaces and harmonious co-existence of the diverse parts of an organization

(Vuorinen, 2005). Whenever available, some form of inquiry into architectural plans and accounts

should be included into spatial studies.


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As suggested by multi-paradigm research, the use of multiple theoretical lenses to study spatiality takes

often place sequentially, one approach at a time (Lewis and Grimes, 1999). At the same time, this

process is cumulative in a sense that various methodical angles on spatial dynamics start gradually to

converse with each other as the study progresses, akin to the interplay strategy (Schultz and Hatch,

1996) where insights from different paradigms lead to richer understanding of the phenomenon. The

initial ethnographic insight into a physical organizational setting is followed by analyses into the spatial

practices and perceptions of employees as well as into the representations and plans of the architects

and administrative officials.

On the other hand, using the vocabulary of the mixed methods research, one can conclude that this kind

of triangulation of separate methods and qualitative data helps in strengthening the validity of empirical

findings. In the Finnish case, similar to Warrens (2008) study, the early reflections of the researcher-

ethnographer were substantially altered after data from other sources and actors started to flow into the

project. For example, the idea that the locations of different departments in relation to the main

building reflect implicit power hierarchies between different disciplines (closeness to the main building

symbolizing importance) proved not to be as significant to the interviewed individuals as the initial

researcher experiences suggested.

Nevertheless, although mixed methods and multiparadigm concepts heighten our awareness of the

theoretical and methodological meanings of the various choices and moves made in the course of

empirical research processes, the study of spatiality and architecture presents unique challenges to the

contemplations of heterodoxy in organizational analysis. It could be described in metatheoretical terms

as entailing a hybrid ontology where at times physical structures are viewed as active participants in

organizational structuring, almost similar to human agents (Yanow, 1995; Gieryn, 2002), whereas at

other times they are conceptualized as material objects that derive their meaning from social

interactions and subjective significations. Human actors, in turn, appear in spatial research as relatively

passive bodies that are scattered around the corridors, offices and pathways shaped by the architectural

choices concretized into buildings, but are also conceived of as social actors whose interpretative work

is crucial for the emergence of space as an organizationally meaningful phenomenon (Dale, 2005).

Theoretical resources such as structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) or actor-network theory (Latour,

2005; Callon & Law, 1995) seem apt to valorize the kind of approach needed to shed light on the

complexities and paradoxes inherent in spatial processes and their study. Especially the methodical


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designs of actor-network studies (e.g. Latour, 1988; Latour, 1991; Callon, 1986) come relatively close

to the types of challenges the study of architecture in organizational settings faces (cf. Fallan, 2008;

Gieryn, 2002). Rich in ethnographic detail and temporal unfolding, but also theoretically rigorous on

the material conditions of the emerging heterogeneous collectives, actor-network theory has

demonstrated in its own way the benefits of employing multiple methods within a case setting. Yet

within its internal discussions, actor-network theory has largely refrained from framing its empirical

operations in a conventional methodological language (e.g. Law, 2004). Analyzing organizations as

spatial products opens up new ways of understanding the reality of organizing but at the same time

considerable further work is required to bring about the implicit empirical practices developing in the

area into the domain of organizational analysis methodology and theory, thus making the evolving

fieldwork maneuvers more readily apprehensible to other researchers wishing to explore the terrain of

architecture and space.

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