Information architecture is a very odd concept.  It is like saying, ‘planet architecture’ or ‘solar system architecture’ as though we are the architects ... the designers … of naturally occurring phenomenon.

The information content of a business is there to be discovered, not designed.  At issue is how much of it will we really find and how much will we ignore because we are so busy designing we don't discover what's there.

The assumption that it is even possible to be information (system) designers guarantees we won’t get it right.  The system design mind-set requires that we ignore basic truths about information.  With this mind-set we can achieve a limited handful of useful results (at a very high cost) but we can never create a big picture solution that consistently reflects the real world.  To presume to design the real world as reflected by information is akin to alchemy.  We bull our way through a situation without realizing what we’re doing flies in the face of reality.

This does not mean information is not structured.  It is.  But, just as with solar systems, it is naturally structured, not designed by humans.  The first need is to understand the naturally occurring structure of information and then see how that structure manifests itself in specific circumstances.  Information structure and function are exactly the same in all situations.

This requires we get over a very unhealthy ‘edifice’ complex ... a bad metaphor that distorts our thinking.  We see systems as constructions, hence the misbegotten use of the word ‘architecture.’ 

Information systems exist naturally whether or not we ever understand them or build tools to help us deal with them.  What we need is not "constructions" that have to be individually built for each circumstance, but a "vehicle", capable of traversing informational terrain for any circumstance. 

Trip

Travel

Transportation

Terrain

Concepts such as information architecture and system design assume the need to design trip, travel, transportation, and terrain all as the same thing.  The real need is to discover terrain and build transportation. When dealing in metaphors, it is far more useful to replace the very weak concept ‘information architecture,’ something requiring design, with ‘information topography,’ something requiring discovery.