tell them you design good buildings. then talk about something else.

architecture sucks. pass the turkey.

and when the enlighten-the-ignorant urge kicks in? Because if i don't watch out i find myself giving an arch. history 101 to whatever unfortunate cousin is nxt to me!

c, Ha! I am not alone... poor souls.

just eat drink watch football fall asleep wake up and go shopping. be an american for christs sake.

Simply be honest and tell them that you value engineer and facilitate obfuscatory best practice if deliterious and proximally dislocated sections though vertically integrated paradigm shifting strategic alliances shrouded as proactive osification schemes with balsa wood-like actionable leveraging to harness componentizations via dialogues with stakeholders and global drill-down leapfrogging of mission-critical modularizations of elasticity through robust explorations of self-iterant maya and rhino turnkey warp-planed solutions that extend transparent holistic niche markets and thus you empower and incubate optimised infrastructures both petulantly literal and phenomenological. And tell them that sometimes you make models and coffee.

Then when you finish look at everyone in the eye and in a deapan voice say, "now that everyone understands exactly what i do please pass the gravy."

Simply be honest and tell them that you value engineer and facilitate obfuscatory best practice if deliterious and proximally dislocated sections though vertically integrated paradigm shifting strategic alliances shrouded as proactive osification schemes with balsa wood-like actionable leveraging to harness componentizations via dialogues with stakeholders and global drill-down leapfrogging of mission-critical modularizations of elasticity through robust explorations of self-iterant maya and rhino turnkey warp-planed solutions that extend transparent holistic niche markets and thus you empower and incubate optimised infrastructures both petulantly literal and phenomenological. And tell them that sometimes you make models and coffee.

Then when you finish look at everyone in the eye and in a deapan voice say, "now that everyone understands exactly what i do please pass the gravy."

tell them you have retired and are now pursuing a career as a professional frisbee golfer.

Now. It’s trouble. Tough trouble. Because you’re in for it aren’t you? Your in for it because you have no SOLUTIONS. The family, they’re going to ask what you do. And here you are again, the marble-mouth. The garbled old marble mouth with no SOLUTION. They’re thinking it already and ashamed of you. Just so super ashamed. They’ve got stuff on their minds, baby, about you and it’s not good. It’s mainly about your garbledness and just the way you seem to have no regular sense at all.
Listen. It’s Thanksgiving again and you’re embarrassed and not being very articulate. Speak up. Stop that mumble stuff. Pass the gravy because that’s what they want. Fill your mouth with some old bird to just stop muttering and embarrassing everyone. Pick your damn napkin up off the rug because your fidgeting legs caused it to drop, again. BUSINESS SOLUTIONS.

suture darling, I wish you'd dare to. And thruening, this has little to do with being inarticulate.
Rather, I'm interested in how other people manage to explain, or share, some of the more esoteric aspects of architecture with 'laymen' , because it isn't easy; but i do think it can be done inteligently and gracefully.
Furthermore, as i'm sure most of you have found, non-architects often like to talk about architecture. It's much easier to ask for the fcking gravy, quite obviously,( not to mention amusing that you think that's the best way to go) but it requires a little more subtlety to generate interest and understanding.
The nature of the profession and schooling isolate me from my family enough; i see no reason to reinforce that isolation, but was wondering how/if others manage to break it.

c, I once explained to a layman (friend of a friend's parent) who asked me if I was a "modernist" that no, I'm a "materialist - and let me tell you what that means..." Then proceeded to say it's not about material possessions obviously but about using the physical material of the world in a way that seems true to its being, while also making a functional space for people (clients) to accomplish the things they need to do. They actually "got it", I could see that look in their eye.

Bear in mind I've been told I speak with a lot of passion when speaking about architecture - if you mumble and seem embarrassed about what you're saying you're sure as hell not going to convince them of your view - so speak in plain terms but with a gleam in your eye and they will listen.

I usually name the type of project i am working on: "i am working on a high-rise condominium tower" or "i am designing an office building addition"; if they know me, they will leave it at that, which is great;
if they don't know me, and follow up with a question, i will usually deliver a small discourse on the current state of architecture; it will be uncomfortable, then a bit scary once i start to swear and veins start to pop; then i will have to have a drink; it's not that i don't like architecture, but that i love (or am addicted to) architecture so much it is frustrating;
my family doesn't ask me about architecture anymore;

it's better i talk about my architectural projects (specifically) than engage my republican developer family in (general) discussions of politics, suvs, sprawl, corporate greed, etc.

i spent the weekend home, as i went to say goodbye to my grandmother, she said she was a good architect, that all the houses she had bought and chaged the layout to where really nice. she has no architectural eduction/background whatsoever. how do you go about explaining the diference between someone who goes out and wrecks the walls of his flat and an architect...is there really any difference?

my wife and i -- diehard modernists/minimalists/environmentalists -- get practice at this every sunday when we eat dinner with her parents and sisters -- ex-military parents, 3- and 6-year-old sisters

part of being a good and effective architect is learning how to communicate with different constituencies: contractors, engineers, interior designers, bankers...clients.

we have to be multilingual in a sense...for instance, when describing, say...the kimbell...

to an architect i might talk about the play of shadow and light; to an engineer i might talk about the pre-tensioned vierendeel-vault system used to form the vault and skylight...to a contractor i might talk about the way the concrete walls were formed and the form caps left

and to a client i might just describe how the space makes me, as a user, feel

as well, we have to understand other "languages" as well...if we did this more often we'd find out that people ARE more savvy than we think

my mother-in-law knows EXACTLY how the sun moves across her property -- the kids play on the west side of the house in the morning, on the east side in the afternoon, by her direction, so they don't get sunburned or over-exerted

she doesn't describe a sun-angle chart or the azimuth and altitude of the sun -- but she knows

do a short lecture about the dining table...and how the form of it affects the activities that take place around it...how different shapes of tables suggests different kinds of experience...then you can say "check out how grandpa sits at the end of the table place architectural jargon here...hierarchical blah blah...and how the table is arranged and how we are interacting because of this tables form...etc"...then you go on about the decorations the table has...

you might have to say some simplified thesis statement before you bust out with the lecture...something like "architecture and experience are one"...i don't know

Main Entry: ar·chi·tect
Pronunciation: 'är-k&-"tekt
Function: noun

Etymology: Middle French architecte, from Latin architectus, from Greek architektOn master builder, from archi- + tektOn builder, carpenter -- more at TECHNICAL

1: a person who designs buildings and advises in their construction

2: a person who designs and guides a plan or undertaking <the architect of American foreign policy>

there is, of course, a difference between being "an architect" and being "a good architect" ... there's also a difference between being "an architect" and "an Architect" ... those two issues illustrate where we have a much more difficult communication problem with laypeople

Ditto ochona.

Part of being an architect is wearing different hats and communicating effectively to different people/groups.

You should be able to be very clear in the language of your audience, otherwise a mason might just throw a brick at you.

Imagine your accountant spouting off obscure tax code references when all you want is to know how much you can put into your IRA this year. Yes, it is the exact same thing. The accountant thinks that the obscure tax code language is as interesting to him as our archi-babble is to us.

Or you can just say,

"Hey, I'm a fancy graphic lover"

that's an awesome way to put it tyvek -- geez, i just asked my mortgage lender how much i could afford...

I hope I get my Wal-Mart movie in time to show the entire family.

I just wish we could just come up with a better word than "intern". It's no fun to be pushing 30 and always trying to explain to people why I'm an "intern". It's even printed on my business card, so explaining it becomes unavoidable sometimes.

my firm calls me architect 1. I'm not licensed or anything. So i simply say i'm the No.1 Architect in the office, and i do healthcare (which i have never done).....then they talk about frank lloyd wright, and we call it a day

not per corell - v. similar situation here. i practice treading lightly, as it's the hand that feeds me.....

You’re still mumbling and muttering and all of this marble-mouth talk. It’s garble, is what it is. And we’re ashamed and super embarrassed. We might start to leave. We want gravy but it’s way across the table. We’d sure like some buttered rolls but you ate them all. Stop fidgeting and think of BUSINESS SOLUTIONS. It’s what you need now just in terms of clear and easy talk and comprehensible bullet points. Free advice: grades. List grades if you have them. Every course of instruction followed by a letter grade. Do it, fast. Clear, easy to understand. No one wants to hear the garble.
Look here. There are solutions and you’re not going to cut any mustard with that thick talk. Get on it. Be clear and straight with a pleasant and really concentrated face. Bullet points, that’ll do it. Bet your gravy on it.

the architect's purpose is to design and construct spaces for human habitation which are of value to the user/client.

Well. Let’s get over the garble. The free advice was this: grades. Say them clearly and easily. BUSINESS SOLUTIONS.

The family has cooked a damn turkey. There’s other stuff on the table including cranberry cylinders with can rings, black olives and buttered rolls. There’s a heavy white candle on the table in a big brass candle holder. There’s a kind of fancy crystal chandelier above the table and everyone’s face is reflected, real tiny, in that thing. You see? It’s right as it should be.
Now, why are we ashamed of you? We see you over the heavy white candle stacking all the rolls on your plate. Before that, you were fidgeting uncontrollably. And just before that, you did that crazy marble-mouth talk. You had NO SOLUTION.
So we are super ashamed now. Good job, man.

tell them that architect's design experiences. I've found this to be the easiest way to get to someone. Don't try to explain why modernism is better than a reproduced victorian, just give an example like this: 'imagine you've got a great site to build a home with a great view. If you hire an architect, they can design a house that takes advantage of that view, of the light, site, etc. If you buy a predesigned cookie cutter, you get exactly the same thing as the guy that faces the highway.'

Illegal or not, trying to explain why you are an 'intern' and not an architect will quickly put you as 'he didn't really go to school for architecture' or 'he went to a community college to get a cheap degree'. You certainly won't get anyone's attention.