If I remember right Deep Work by Cal Newport talks about Bell Labs and how that came to be such an epicentre of invention back in the day. The author reckons th

If I remember right Deep Work by Cal Newport talks about Bell Labs and how that came to be such an epicentre of invention back in the day. The author reckons that the architecture of the building had a lot to do with it. It allowed the employees to do uninterrupted, concentrated work when needed but then when exiting their offices the design of the building facilitated lots of chance encounters with other people in other departments which meant a lot of exchanging of ideas and knowledge. You don't get this kind of "hive mind" effect with remote work.