2011/11/21

Chad

Architecture: as a metaphor for web production

Surely everyone has heard the term “building a website”, but why is this term used so often when describing something that has no physical presence. Perhaps it is because “building” suggests some sort of process is involved. Or perhaps construction and web development involve similar types of disciplines. Or perhaps the phrase implies that when “it” is completed something will exist and allow for interactivity. In a sense, these are all true, but this allusion can be tricky to navigate, so let’s lay a foundation and build from there.
Contemplation (or meditation if you prefer)

The first similarity between architecture and web production is the pre-planning stages.

 

For instance, Company-X is a booming start-up and they need to expand their “office” to include all the new hires. Unfortunately, their garage is getting a bit too tight and the rest of the house is “off-limits”, so Company-X decides they need a real office. They need to decided many things before they ever consult an Architect or Realtor. First and foremost they need to plan the scope of their future estate. How big will the space be and how will it work with the different departments?

 

It is precisely the same exercise we go through with clients when they decide they need a website or an upgrade from their existing website. Learning about the scope of a web project doesn’t require any physical measurements but it does requires that a company evaluate the size (as in pages and depths) of their virtual presence. Figuring out the scope gives us insight into what we will eventually build. Just as an architect translates the client’s requirements and desires into a building, web developers can guesstimate the appropriate framework based on a companies “wish-list”. However, not everything may make it into the final build the way it was concocted.

 

Parti
In Architecture a parti [par-TEE] is a diagram which illustrates the very basic groupings, hierarchies, spacial relationships, and other general concerns. It is almost impossible to get a perfect parti because of all the overlapping concerns involved. However, it is important to develop one because a parti will help guide the project trough the rest of the design phases.

 

This is true for web design too. “Sitemaps” and “wireframes” may not sound as fun as an architectural parti, but when combined they speak to the overall information hierarchies, content positioning, and user experience. They guide the rest of the project by providing a clear starting position from which the rest of the team can build from.

 

Discipline
An architect tends to be concerned about the interaction of a user with a given physical space. Which most closely reflects the concerns of an art director who argues how users will interpret a website’s visual look and feel.

 

Engineers tend to concern themselves with the physical things inside that space. This corresponds closely with the wizards behind the curtain known as programmers, who build the function into a website bringing it alive.

 

And the interior designers tend to be concerned with how a space is utilized. This seems to be the realm of the web designer, who argues the case for palettes, fonts, margins, and padding.

Each discipline has specialists and cross-overs who work their particular magic to bring a project to life.

A door is a hyperlink
Rooms (pages), Piping (http requests), Electrical (API integration), Structural supports (CMS framework), the list of metaphors could go on and on but the greater issue here is not about the particular allegory, but about communication and the parts we all play.

 

On the simplest level we are all users of man-made creations. Both in an urban environment and online. Therefore when we set out to build anything it is in our human interest to make “it” the best we can for the end-users. We build it not just for ourselves but for us and “them”.

 

The more complex reality is that web development is not considered to be at the same level as architecture. Some can argue that the web world does not have the same restrictions and not nearly the same amount of concerns as an architect has to be conscious of and is therefore an inappropriate metaphor. True, however, the allusion only points to the similarities in order to provide a basic understanding of web development to novice web clients. The web industry has its own varied concerns and approaches to development which have little to do with the physical world and nothing to do with architecture.

 

In the end, if anyone is looking for a good metaphor to explain web production, “Building a website” is probably the best way to go. Both architects and web developers work on a theoretical level. It is a well informed guessing game about how invisible users will interact with your finished project. Both strive to create a genius loci (intelligent use of space) that provides the tools and space for human interaction.

Louis Kahn is quoted as saying “Architecture is the thoughtful making of space”. I think the same can be said about the sometimes confusing world of web production.

 

Special thanks to Mathew Frederick’s insightful book “101 Things I Learned in Architecture School” MIT Press 2007.