Interestingly, at the pub this evening, an architect (as in 'buildings') credited IT (as in Information Technology) with setting the pace for 'design patterns'.
He commented having heard me explaining to my mate that we pinched the notion from the architects...
He one-upped me on my explanation of door though.
I described a door as “a mechanism facilitating passage through a wall.”
He went even more abstract, “a mechanism facilitating transition from the outside state, to the inside state.”
It was interesting to hear an architect use the phrase 'state transition'.
He summed up architecture as 'the business of manipulating humans'. (specifically 'emotional response'.)
I got him back, I reckon it's the the business of manipulating 'physical reality'. ( In fairness, not everyone's idea of 'physical reality' allows for the incorporation of 'humans'. )
...then again, if physical reality is manipulating you, and you're manipulating physical reality...
...this is that whole 'One' thing all over again. Isn't it?