[Review of Philip D. Plowright & Silvio Carta (2026) The Hidden Lives of Algorithms: Geometry and Social Meaning in Architecture]

Confronted by challenging design problems, Plowright and Carta point out, architects are enormously helped by algorithms that quickly and efficiently calculate optimal relations between spaces. The danger, however, is that “we cede authority for our decisions . . . to an algorithmic entity for the benefit of reduced cognitive load” (p. 81). Put differently, algorithms create paper realities that fail to do justice to the complex way human beings experience the built environment that results from executing these designs in the real world. The Hidden Lives of Algorithms lucidly explains this discrepancy between theory and practice. The monograph thereby sharpens architects’ awareness of the pitfalls of adhering too strictly to their algorithms. But the book is of interest for a broader audience, too, since it insightfully demonstrates how people’s mostly intuitive evaluations of designed space are rooted in their embodied experience.