Earl Morrogh — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:50:48 GMT

Response to “comments:”

“Architecture is like a book that a culture “writes” for other members of that culture; it is a culture talking to itself about the meaning and organization of the life of that culture. So looking at architecture isn’t [just] about pretty buildings [anymore], it’s about understanding world view. This also means that whenever a member of a culture looks at a work of architecture, they understand that it has meaning and that this meaning governs their actions and understanding of the world.” (1996, Richard Hooker)

The term “architecture” was once synonymous with the human organization of space with physical materials. And, for centuries it was safe to assume
that when anyone spoke of architecture or an architect, they were talking about the built environment. However, that commonly accepted association can no longer be made anymore as the term is applied in its more general sense to help define other complex systems and professions (information architecture among them). For instance, as in the following definition of software architecture:

“An architecture is the set of significant decisions about the organization of a software system, the selection of the structural elements and their interfaces by which the system is composed, together with their behavior as specified in the collaborations among those elements, the composition of these structural and behavioral elements into progressively larger subsystems, and the architectural style that guides this organization—-these elements and their interfaces, their collaborations, and their composition.” (Booch, Rumbaugh, and Jacobson, 1999)

This type of misconception about IA will disappear with effective public relations and education efforts regarding the profession of IA. In this case the profession of architecture once again provides a good model. To a large degree the perception that the profession of architecture is equal in stature to law or medicine is due to the highly successful efforts of the American Institute of Architects.

lloyd alter — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:50:48 GMT

I am an architect with a licence to practice architecture. In our part of the world it is actually illegal to use the term without being licenced. The author Margaret Visser once stated that a professional was one into whose hands we put our trust in a subject that we could not comprehend- the doctor our health; the lawyer our freedom; the clergyman our soul. We added the architect, our shelter.

I think it is unreasonable to co-opt a term that has been used for centuries by a particular group because you think it makes you sound better. Our profession has determined that it is a fight not worth pursuing, because you see it as a fashionable name but have no long term legal use of it so we hope it will just go away.

While I appreciate what you do I think that you should build your own reputations and your own name instead of co-opting ours.

A few years ago I saw an ad for a data warehouse architect. I was thinking of applying- hey, I have designed warehouses, why not?

At least you are not that egregious.

Comments on Information Architecture: From Craft to Profession