So a few weeks ago I wrote a post on how to speak like an architect with the premise that if you want to be an architect, you have to speak in a certain way; if you don’t, no one will take you very seriously. Yes, it is true that architects tend to be overly specific and use words that regular people rarely use. I even went so far as to personally finance market research (no I didn’t) to determine that 62% of all the words that come out of an architects mouth could be replaced by a simpler and more widely known word. (probably)

Not knowing just how popular that story would be, I started out with just 25 words. To be honest, I was surprised at how easily I came up with these words – it was almost as if I was the architect-type person who spoke in this ‘members-only’ club (I am). But let’s not worry about that now, hmmm? I am here today to present you with round 2 of Architect Bingo© - another group of 25 words for you to learn and incorporate into your casual daily conversations.

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I have expanded my list of designer-y words that you need to master. Coming out later this week are the rest of the series – cards 3 and 4 – so in the end there will be a total of 4 cards and 100 words. Once you have managed to work all these words into your daily conversations without effort, you’ll be on your way to becoming a bonafide architect. At this point, you should expect your commissions to increase - or if you are still in architecture school that your grades will improve.  You will discover that people will stop listening to you and just accept that the words coming out of your mouth are awesome and righteous … the listener will not want to expose the fact that they don’t understand the word that you are using in such a common and cavalier manner. Once you have reached this point, the real secret is that you can start making  up your own words and people will be forced to believe you. This is a riff on the story ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes” and architects have been making use of this technique for decades.

Here is the second round of words for you to memorize:

Detail:  extended treatment of or attention to particular items

Poche:  The walls, columns, and other solids of a building that are cut in a floor plan or section drawing, usually indicated by shading the cut area black or with hatching

Transition:  Movement, passage, or change from one form, state or place to another

Contextual:  the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs

Riparian:  relating to or living or located on the bank of a natural watercourse

Formal:  relating to or involving the outward form, structure, relationships, or arrangement of elements rather than content

Irregular:  lacking perfect symmetry or evenness

Member:  a part of a whole

Define:  to fix or mark the limits of

Linear:  relating to, resembling, or having a graph that is a line and especially a straight line

Cluster:  a number of similar things that occur together

Volume:  the amount of space occupied by a three-dimensional object as measured in cubic units

Surface:  the exterior or upper boundary of an object or body

Elevated:  raised especially above the ground or other surface

Closure:  A property of perception in which there is a tendency for an open or incomplete figure to be seen as if it were a closed or complete and stable form

Mass:  The physical volume or bulk of a solid body

Circuitous:  having a circular or winding course; or not being forthright or direct in language or action

Sequence:  a continuous or connected series; or continuity of progression

Oblique:  neither perpendicular nor parallel

Order:  A condition of logical, harmonious, or comprehensible arrangement in which each element of a group is properly disposed with reference to other elements and to its purpose

Theory:  Abstract thought or speculation resulting in a system of assumptions of principles used in analyzing, explaining, or predicting phenomena, and proposed or followed as the basis of action

Scale:  A certain proportionate size, extent, or degree, usually judged in relation to some standard or point of reference

Freehand:  drawing done without mechanical aids or devices

Green:  An environmentalist political movement tending to preserve environmental quality

Regulate:  to bring order, method, or uniformity to an item, process, or procedure

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*UPDATE*

All the cards are finished – You can find them by following the links below

Card #1

Card #3

Card #4

Card #5

Cheers!

ps – on the advice of my crack legal team Architect Bingo©® (US Patent Pending)

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