I used to be fairly critical of fellow architects and interior designers with regard to how they spoke and conveyed their ideas, wishing sometimes they would speak in “plain English”…. Thinking that while I understood them, those not trained in design may have no clue what they are referring to.
Then, much to my horror, I realized that I was guilty of the same thing…. “The proportion of the new fenestration and the addition were contextually correct within the urban fabric of the neighborhood…….blah, blah, blah, I blurted out during a recent presentation…… OMG I thought.. I am one of them…. How did this happen!!!???
So, I did a little research to see if there was some sort of guide to help others understand what we were actually saying, Here’s what I found.
This article is from Blue Architecture, a rather funny article where they say and I quote ….. “If you ever wanted to speak like and architect and sound somewhat intelligible without stating anything meaningful…”. (That line makes me laugh to this day….) They have published a “Do-it-Yourself Architectural Dialogue” chart.
One other interesting article is from Archdaily “150 Weird Words That Only Architects Use” here they ask their readers the question about odd words used by architects and designers and common words which we have given different meanings to.
- Here is the link to ArchDaily, the original article where the words are defined.
A final other source for Architectural/Interior Design language translation was found at the BAC.
I hope in the end, when Designers and Architects speak, they are not too confusing to the general populous (our clients) and that the world does find our “language” insightful and helpful, but it does make me wonder if other professions also have their own coded language?
Happy ArchiSpeak’ing….
Tom
