ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the changing role of centers of coordination and their role for the control of refigured spaces. We discuss the concept of control rooms, their different types, and the distinctions made between them in the field. Based on a relational understanding of space, we use the concept of synthetic space to understand the mediatized and communicative co-construction of centers of control and of controlled spaces. Based on empirical studies of conventional and advanced cases, we focus on technologically oriented self-descriptions of automation and relate them to actual integration present in current communicative work practices. Our examples highlight the important role of communication and interaction performed in everyday routine work in these centers, and we argue that this refiguration can only be understood by considering these aspects.
