SI 658 001 WN 2017

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The theme of SI 658 Information Architecture this term is the public environment.

 

The primary mode for our work in the class will be investigative: we'll conduct research and generate new knowledge to better understand the role that public space plays in environments that support the wellbeing of human beings.

Websites and information systems are just as much a part of the man-made, human-inhabited environment as huts and sheds and temples and auditoriums and houses and banana stands. Indeed, most Americans spend 40 or more hours a month "in there" -- in these places made of information.

To what extent does what architects and planners know about the making the public environment map onto digital space? Where is the public environment in digital space? Is the concept of a "public" and differentiation between merely buildings and capital-a Architecture primarily a Western, post-Enlightenment trope? Where are the boundaries of public space? When do you know you're in such spaces and places? What's the consequence of shrinking access or no access to public space in the man-made environment?

We have thirteen weeks to find out, and the focal point for our work this term is a speech that Richard Saul Wurman gave at the International Design Conference at Aspen in 1970 at the age of 35. The text of this speech had been filed away in a box in the IDCA archives until just a few weeks ago. Together (and with some help from Mr. Wurman), we'll see what these ideas can do for and to us in 2017.

 

Slides And Audio Recordings

  1. Class on January 09 • Slides & Audio
  2. Class on January 23 • Slides & Audio Part 1
  3. Class on January 30 • Slides & Lecture Audio & Discussion Audio 
  4. Class on February 06 • Slides & Lecture Audio
  5. Class on February 13 • Slides & Presentations Audio & Discussion Audio
  6. Class on February 20 • Slides 
  7. Class on March 06 • Slides & Presentation Audio & Discussion Audio
  8. Class on March 13 • Slides
  9. Class on March 20 • Slides
  10. Class on March 27 • Slides
  11. Class on April 3 • Slides
  12. Class on April 10 • Slides
  13. Class on April 17 • Student Slides & Instructor Slides

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due
Public Domain This course content is offered under a Public Domain license. Content in this course can be considered under this license unless otherwise noted.