A number of historians and sociologists have questioned the relation between socialization and architecture. Yet the relation between the latter and the production of scientific knowledge has been seldom addressed. In this article, we present a research avenue that aims to explore in greater depth the relation between architecture and the production of so-called interdisciplinary scientific knowledge. We propose to investigate the discourses, strategies and material elements that researchers deploy to set up scientific collaborations between different domains. Our case study is represented by two “complexity institutes”: the Santa Fe Institute and the Complex Systems Institute of Paris Île-de-France. Empirical material consists of interviews, ethnographies and archives. We ask a series of questions: how is the interdisciplinary use of architecture discussed and reported? How is it materially established? What are the observable research practices in these architectural spaces?