Architecture Slang, Jargon, and New Words from Double-Tongued Dictionary

Architecture, housing, buildings, architects, blueprints, etc. You can also see entries assigned to this category.

(4/15 pages) « First < 2 3 4 5 6 > Last »

DIMBY n. Many Tasmanians support the pulp mill. So much so, that a new term has been coined in the Apple Isle: DIMBY, meaning Definitely In My Backyard. [English Australia Architecture Acronym] [full cite] (Feb. 24, 2005)

dockominium n. One response has been the rise of the dockominium, an idea that started in Florida’s year-round boating environment. Marinas sell boat slips like real estate, assuring the owner perpetual ownership, tax write-offs for interest paid if the boat docked in the slip is used as a second home, and, the idea’s promoters say, a chance to cash in on the shortage. [English United States Architecture Nautical] [full cite] (Jul. 6, 2004)

dot condo n. I often refer to it as the dot-condo phenomenon because it’s a real deal—it’s not a bunch of hype. There is a huge new market for condos, but not as huge as all the projects they’re proposing. [English Architecture] [full cite] (May. 12, 2005)

eco-roof n. The eco-roof is a roof that is planted in cactus and other water-retaining vegetation. [English Architecture Environment] [full cite] (Apr. 28, 2004)

eco-roof n. Hines argues that there are sound technical reasons to use an eco-roof. “A grass roof protects the roof membrane on flat roofs from extremes of temperature and also blocks ultra-violet light, which helps the membrane last longer,” he says. [English Architecture Environment] [full cite] (Apr. 28, 2004)

ecoshell n. The next best step for Mr. Pressler was to build hurricane shelters using the same technique but on a smaller scale.… These 10ft ecoshells as they are called are engineered to withstand 160 mph winds. [English Architecture] [full cite] (Sep. 20, 2005)

Edwardian five n. The apartment she chose was once an Edwardian five, which translates simply to a one bedroom for a rich bachelor or widow (probably not for a young single woman—they rarely lived alone in Edwardian times): only one bedroom but a preposterously large dining room and, of course, a maid’s room. [English Architecture Houses & Housing] [full cite] (Apr. 10, 2007)

eyelash window n. Ms. Ingram used a classic half-window, also known as an “eyelash window,” at the rear of the room as her focal point. [English Architecture] [full cite] (May. 15, 2007)

facade-ectomy n. To be sure, shaving away everything but the facade of a building has been done before. In 1989, architects Moriyama & Teshima jammed a modern office building at 10 S. LaSalle St. with blue and lime green walls between the templelike base of the 1912 Otis Building by the legendary Chicago firm of Holabird & Roche. The resulting visual mismatch epitomizes the sins inflicted by this type of architectural surgery, which preservationists pejoratively refer to as a “facade-ectomy.” [English Architecture Construction & Buildings] [full cite] (Apr. 9, 2007)

faux chateau n. Whether you call them by the pejorative moniker McMansions or more whimsical names such as Faux Chateaux or Starter Castles, super-sized houses are here—soon to be followed by negative impacts, according to conservationists. [English Architecture Construction & Buildings Houses & Housing] [full cite] (Jul. 2, 2005)

(4/15 pages) « First < 2 3 4 5 6 > Last »