Course Syllabus

Information Architecture

Theme: Sacred Space

Dan Klyn + Kaiwen Sun

Short Course Description

In the class this term, we’ll learn about the spatiality of meaning and the placefulness of users experiences by conducting analyses of physical and digital environments, and by solving an info/spatial problem.  Along the way we'll ask some questions:

• Do the normative criteria used to evaluate architecture in the built environment work on products and services made of information?
• What is the material of UX design? 
• How much or little of the designer's selfhood should be present in the processes and products industry pays them for?
• What should architects and designers do with the awareness (once they get it) of biases and power structures reified in the products and processes they make? 

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Use info-architectural methods to identify and explain what's happening in complex information environments;
• Conceive and construct models at varying levels of abstraction in order to;
• Appreciate some of the ways that the organization of information changes what's possible experientially; and ultimately
• Develop and explain recommendations for eco-systemic structural change using architectural concepts and methods.