The architecture of the
WorldWideWeb is part technical design, but it is also about building convivial places to
live, work and play, in the sense of traditional architecture, e.g. the work of
ChristopherAlexander.
RoyFielding, in his dissertation
http://www.ebuilt.com/fielding/pubs/dissertation/top.htm, compares HTTP to the architecture of
ChristopherAlexander. Just as poetry is created by putting the most meaning into the least words and great architecture by combining the most patterns into the smallest space, Roy shows how HTTP combines the features of so many architectural systems into one.
TedNelson argues in
TheFutureOfInformation that "the main concerns in software
development, as well as in movie making, are its effects on the mind and heart of the
viewer."
The technical architecture of the web is based
on naming, formats, and protocols:
TimBernersLee did the engineering design of the URL/HTML/HTTP
Web in the early '90s
(see technical notes
http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/
style issues
http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/) but the essential
ideas go back to
AsWeMayThink in 1945,
DougEngelbart in the 60's,
etc. see nots on web history at
http://www.w3.org/History.html
as well as work by
TedNelson on
HyperText,
DaveClark et. al.
on TCP/IP, etc.
WebArchitecture is often obscured by limited implementations.
Perhaps a
WebDesignCurriculum could help.
CategorySemanticWeb