The Bespoke Serial Killer?
Nite Cafe’s A.I. response to prompt “a bespoke architect”.
bespoke
verb: a simple past tense and past participle of bespeak.
adjective: [British] 1. (of clothes) made to individual order; custom-made; 2. a bespoke jacket; 3. making or selling such clothes; 4. a bespoke tailor.
Older Use: engaged to be married; spoken for.
synonyms: sewn, custom-fit, custom-made, made-to-measure
In the same archinect.com newsletter as “Suspected Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann was a Manhattan-based architect” appears “Five bespoke multi-family projects by Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects: Your Next Employer?”.
I’d been thinking about the impression Heuermann would have on a public that often views architects and architecture as mysterious or, perhaps better said, ambiguous—a word well suited to the many different aspects of and paths in the profession.
Having an arrest in a decades old, nationally recognized serial murder investigation brings great relief to many. Having Heuermann—though innocent until proven guilty—now be the national face of the architectural profession? Not so much.
At the American Institute of Architects A’23 conference in San Francisco, I gave a talk about how we can use language to overcome the mystery and misconception around what architects do. In the vein of image, mystery and misconception, Heuermann’s arrest is a gut punch to advancing awareness of what we do and all that architecture and design does for communities.
But then there’s that word… “bespoke”. Out of nowhere in the last decade this word has risen from the obscurity of British men’s tailoring for the well-heeled to describe, well, everything. I easily found articles (dating back to 2016) speaking of bespoke everything. It didn’t even appear in a 2015 article—one of my favorite ArchDaily articles of all time—“150 Weird Words That Only Architects Use”. Generally, the word “bespoke” imparts a sense of luxury… Or, according to Merriam-Webster, at least ‘costing more money’. Or, in its long history, corsets. (Enough said…) Is this really an idea we want to advance about our work?
Why am I linking the arrest of a notorious, long-sought-out serial killer to the word “bespoke”? Simply because the two potentially further distance the non-architect world from grasping the meaning and value of all architects do. I haven’t found out yet whether Heuermann was an AIA architect (a member of the AIA). In the end, it doesn’t matter. For the foreseeable future, our profession will be linked to the heinous, decades-old acts against people (exactly what we don’t associate ourselves with).
However, ditching the high-end, slightly elitist word “bespoke” for the more humane “custom made” is an act we do have control over. Let’s put some down-to-earth humanity in our language to at least temper the Heuermann effect.
