The Kevin McCloud Column
Designer, writer and television presenter, Kevin McCloud leapt into our consciousness with his vastly successful Grand Designs show on Channel 4. This month, the affable architectural business owner talks about the language of interior design and the world of architecture.
Words are powerful, especially in the world of architecture and design. After hosting Grand Designs for so long, I’ve realised how particular we designers can be about the language we use to describe the environments we create.
A peculiar lexicon, full of strange expressions, colloquialisms, and the overuse of certain words, seems to dominate every conversation. Take the word ‘space’, for example. If I had a pound for every time it was said in an episode, I could probably build my own eco-friendly, zinc-clad abode!
It’s become a catch-all term, used to describe everything from a vast open-plan kitchen to a snug bedroom corner. We speak about ‘creating space’, ‘opening up space’, ‘defining the space’ – but what are we really saying?
Often shorthand for light, volume and flow or simply the emotional response a room evokes, I can’t help but laugh at how ubiquitous it has become, as if there’s no other word to capture what we’re trying to express.
What about ‘honest materials’? There’s something wonderfully earnest about this one. What does it mean for materials to be honest? Are oak beams confessing their centuries-old origins or brick walls admitting they’re not plastered?
I suspect it’s our way of celebrating authenticity and craftsmanship, rebelling against synthetic mass-production. Yet let’s not kid ourselves: most modern buildings have their share of compromises, no matter how ‘honest’ the materials!
One of my favourites has to be ‘volume’. Unlike ‘space’, it conveys a more architectural weight – not just about square footage but the way a room holds itself – the height of a ceiling, the depth of a void, the feeling of grandeur, or the intimacy a design can evoke. It speaks of a building’s relationship with the people inside, and that’s something we can never ignore.
Colloquialisms like ‘cosy’ or ‘bijou’ appear when an estate agent is desperately trying to market a property with more charm than square metres. Cosy often means cramped and bijou often translates to ‘small enough to swing a very small cat’, but we go along with these terms and, secretly, I think we quite like them!
In the end, the language of design is as fluid and evolving as the structures we build. We may be prone to a few clichés, but behind every word lies a passion for transforming how we live and, in that, there’s a beauty all of its own.
