Architecture, Computing and the Second World War: From Crystallography to Digital Research in Architecture

by João Rocha

Architecture, Computing and the Second World War explores the history of digital architecture from the 1930s to the 1970s, depicting the interdisciplinary connections between the British avant-garde and the scientific milieu at the beginning of World War II. Interest in digital architecture has increased exponentially in recent years, due to the rising recognition of its importance. This book offers a historical account of the premises that fostered this multidisciplinary domain, enriching our understanding of the intellectual and cultural history that provided the context for the creation of architectural computing in the UK and USA. It examines the interwar period, ending in the late 1930s, as the starting point for a new enquiry into the building sciences and the emergence of design computing, using examples from research carried out at the LUBFS Centre at Cambridge, the Architecture Machine Group at MIT and the Design Research Center at Carnegie Mellon, along with photographs from the period, to illustrate the history of architectural computation.

216 pages, Hardcover

Published February 28, 2025