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A Commune in the Ivory Tower

Andrew Harmel-Law | GOTO Copenhagen 2025

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I’m an architect, and I think a lot about architecture. Mostly I think about how irrelevant architecture is if it doesn’t get shipped to production. I worry a lot too. I worry about how to help all the teams I’m supposed to be helping, without slowing them down, getting in their way, or making their lives harder rather than easier. Traditional (i.e. hands-off, blessed-few) approaches to architecture rarely (if ever) work. But in the world of microservices, autonomous teams, and continuous delivery, architecture is more important than ever. Is there an alternative? This session will introduce you to a mindset and an associated set of practices which do away with the traditional idea of “Architects” while bringing the practice of “Architecture” to the fore. I’ll explain how everyone can become an architect, without things reducing to chaos (though there might well be a healthy dose of anarchy).

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Transcript

I’m an architect, and I think a lot about architecture. Mostly I think about how irrelevant architecture is if it doesn’t get shipped to production. I worry a lot too. I worry about how to help all the teams I’m supposed to be helping, without slowing them down, getting in their way, or making their lives harder rather than easier.

Traditional (i.e. hands-off, blessed-few) approaches to architecture rarely (if ever) work. But in the world of microservices, autonomous teams, and continuous delivery, architecture is more important than ever. Is there an alternative?

This session will introduce you to a mindset and an associated set of practices which do away with the traditional idea of “Architects” while bringing the practice of “Architecture” to the fore. I’ll explain how everyone can become an architect, without things reducing to chaos (though there might well be a healthy dose of anarchy).

About the speakers

Andrew Harmel-Law

Andrew Harmel-Law

Tech Principal at Thoughtworks

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