1st Edition

The Architecture of Information Architecture, Interaction Design and the Patterning of Digital Information

By Martyn Dade-Robertson Copyright 2011
    192 Pages 33 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    192 Pages 33 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book looks at relationships between the organization of physical objects in space and the organization of ideas. Historical, philosophical, psychological and architectural knowledge are united to develop an understanding of the relationship between information and its representation.

    Despite its potential to break the mould, digital information has relied on metaphors from a pre-digital era. In particular, architectural ideas have pervaded discussions of digital information, from the urbanization of cyberspace in science fiction, through to the adoption of spatial visualizations in the design of graphical user interfaces.

    This book tackles:

    • the historical importance of physical places to the organization and expression of knowledge
    • the limitations of using the physical organization of objects as the basis for systems of categorization and taxonomy
    • the emergence of digital technologies and the twentieth century new conceptual understandings of knowledge and its organization
    • the concept of disconnecting storage of information objects from their presentation and retrieval
    • ideas surrounding ‘semantic space’
    • the realities of the types of user interface which now dominate modern computing.

    Introduction  1. The Architecture of Everything  2. Changing Patterns of Architecture and Information  3. Scope and Focus  4. The Place of Architectural Theory  5. The Multi-Disciplinary Context  6. Structure and Content  Part 1: The Architectonic System  7. Architecture and Meaning  8. Architectonic Systems and the Emergence of Categorisation  9. Conceptual Spaces: Categories in the Mind  10. Topic and Topos  11. Conclusion  Part 2: Between City Lights Receding and the Non-space of the Mind  12. Loosing the Ballast of Materiality  13. Spaces between Logic and Ontology  14. ‘Display Becomes Reality  15. The Web is not a Tree  16. Remediating Space  17. Conclusion  Part 3: The Spaces of Information  18. Spaces of Information  19. The Failure of Architectural Metaphors  20. Measuring: Semantic Space  21. Mapping: Screen Space  22. Exploring: Interaction Space  23. Navigating: Architectonic Space  24. Conclusion  Part 4: Reality Becomes Display  25. After Information Architecture  26. Non-discursive Formations  27. Place-Action  28. Space Agency  29. Invisible Architectures  30. Conclusion  Conclusion

    Biography

    Martyn Dade-Robertson is Lecturer in Architecture and Communication in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at Newcastle University. He originally did a degree in Architecture at Newcastle University before embarking on an MPhil and PhD at Cambridge University (Darwin College) on the topic of Information Architecture.

    "An interesting reading of the blurring between the ‘real’ and the ‘virtual’ spaces we
    live in."
    Erdkunde