Architects Terms – What they really mean

Sense of Entry: The front door is big and far away.
Human Scale: less than 400 feet tall.
Skewed Grid: The design looked too boring with a regular grid.
Contextual: Is surrounded by a lot of other buildings the architect couldn’t tear down.
Theoretical: Nobody in their right mind would ever consider building the crazy thing.
Signature Building: You can’t afford it.
Less Is More: The designer ran out of ideas.
International Style: No country will take responsibility for it.
Deconstructivist: The backhoe ran into it during construction - and they liked it.
Jury: Firing squad.
Design Review Board: Failed architecture majors.
Architecture Student: Egotistical masochist with no money.
Contractor – A gambler who never gets to shuffle, cut or deal!
Bid Opening – A poker game in which the losing hand wins.
Low Bidder – A contractor who is wandering what he/she left out.
Engineer’s Estimate – The cost of construction in Heaven.
Completion Date – The point at which liquidated damages begin.
Liquidated Damages – A penalty for failing to achieve the impossible.

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