Nanophotonics allows the design of optical devices and systems at densities beyond those conventionally limited by the diffraction of light. Such higher integration density, however, is only one of the benefits of optical near-fields over conventional optics and electronics. In this article, architectural approaches are presented to exploit the unique physical principles enabled by optical near-field interactions for information and communications technologies (ICT). Sample demonstrations are based on optical excitation transfer via optical near-field interactions and hierarchical properties associated with optical near-fields.