ABSTRACT
In a number of recent studies, the rise of standard paper formats in 20th-century Europe has been framed within the context of the history of information and media studies. In this chapter, the author want to make the case that it is useful to interpret their development from a spatio-political and architectonic standpoint as well. This chapter argues that standard paper formats were introduced to stem the crisis of bourgeois subjectivity that emerged with the advent of industrial capitalism. Industrial efficiency was first among the objectives Die Brücke hoped to accomplish through the adoption of standard paper formats. Under Emil Pirchan's direction, Die Brücke developed unified conventions for organizing information on standard-format sheets of paper. The standardization of paper represented one means through which it its members hoped to safeguard bourgeois ideas about privacy. Standard paper formats anticipate the advent of 'collecting machines' such as the Internet.
