The psychopathology of human nature invented the wall. The greek and ancient philosophers refer to separation of civilization from nature, what was already ancient wisdom for them and called it “Chora” or “Ur.”
Over the years, centuries and millennia, the moat, castle, fortress, pentagon and temple came to separate one set of humans from another.
Humans who were civilized within these architecture of civilizations built the same kind of architecture for information, and still continue to do so.
But, for the first time in 20th century when a bomb was fitted to an aircraft, the separation of humans by a wall, moat and everything grounded by gravity was blown apart.
Today, you can see the opening sequence of Disney’s logo before the start of any of their movies. The elaborate Cinderella’s Castle is celebrated with fireworks, completely denying the purpose of its thick walls and towering structure. Then there is a huge arch in the center of the castle where the water that appears to be a river than a moat cuts right through the arch to the other side of the castle. A small boat with plastic explosives will blow up the entire castle and the image is a total anathema to the very nature of a castle.
The Architecture of Information is an exact parallel to this Disney Castle. The ‘Metaphors We Live By’ define the information we design. That metaphor is in a state of war – a war between old guards of heritage, tradition, conservatism, conservationists and preservationists on one side pitted against the those who have realized the world has already changed.
Information is power, and like a river, it wants to flow, not be dammed and exploited without serious consequences to the ecology of decision making.
I’ve spent the last 25+ years helping organizations transition from a centralized theocracy to transparent decision making networks of information. The fortress wants to be a city. The city wants to blend into nature.
