Architecture, Automata, and Artificial Memory

Artificial memory is an essential precondition for automata,one with a rich collection of conceptual and technical precedents.This paper frames artificial memory as both a technical media and a modeof spatial experiment, arguing that the intersection of mechanical and spatialinvention catalyzed early experiments in automaton memory. Morespecifically, seventeenth century architects played pivotal and surprisingroles in the development of artificial “memory architectures” throughtheir work in the creation of large-scale reprogrammable musical automata.In these early, perhaps original, forms of automata memory, we seenot only the provocative roots of autonomous machines but also a powerfuland expansive view of the architect as transdisciplinary inventor.