The Software Architect Elevator

Chapter 2. Movie-Star Architects

Most Architects Carry Multiple Personas

The architect walk of fame

What should an architect be doing besides riding the elevator? Let’s try another analogy: movie characters.

Before the movie starts, you get to watch advertisements or short films. In our case, it’s a short film about the origin of the word architect: it derives from the Greek ἀρχιτέκτων (architekton), which roughly translates into “master builder.” Keeping in mind that this word was meant for people who built houses and structures, not IT systems, we should note that the word implies “builder,” not “designer”—an architect should be someone who actually builds, not someone who only draws pretty pictures. An architect is also expected to be accomplished in their profession as to deserve the attribute of being a “master.” Now to the main feature…

The Matrix: The Master Planner

If you ask tech folk to name a prototypical architect in the movies, they’ll likely mention the The Matrix trilogy. The Architect of the Matrix is (per Wikipedia) a “cold, humorless, white-haired man in a light-gray suit,” qualities he largely owes to the fact that he is a computer program himself. Wikipedia also notes that the Architect “speaks in long logical chains of reasoning,” something that many IT architects are known to do. So perhaps the analogy holds?

Note

Fun fact: Vint Cerf, one of the key architects ...