As Anastasia mentioned in a recent post, we've been working on a big kitchen remodel at home as well as a big website at work: both of which should be done and "launched" soon. And, in both cases (kitchen and big website), we've been very aware of the importance of the role of architect (the building kind, and the information kind).

So, I've been thinking about architecture a lot every day, especially about the idea that there's some kind of architecture in information architecture. And, I had this thought about information architecture:

The boundaries of information spaces are defined by "doors" and "windows." Doors are entrances and exits to some information, which doors often act as through ways between some information and some other information. Windows are views of some information, generally in the context of some other information. There are no "walls" per se, only doors that are closed and/or an absence of windows.

(photo desertdoor by teachastrid on Flickr)

The practice of information architecture is all about doors and windows. Information architects design structures entirely with doors and windows. We specifically engage in the practice of design in terms of potentials and relationships between doors and windows. We work to enable the experience and understanding of information spaces, that by nature, can only be experienced or understood in terms of their doors and windows.

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This is maybe analogous to some the ideas best expressed in Andrew Hinton's Linkosophy presentation.